Oilers rout the Habs
Jujhar Khaira hopes he is finding his groove with the Edmonton Oilers.
The 23-year-old winger scored twice in a game for the first time to help the Oilers to a 6-2 rout of the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night.
That gave the Surrey, B.C. native five points in the four games since he returned to the lineup after being scratched for a pair of contests.
“Playing the last few games, I built confidence and I’m getting confidence from my teammates,” said Khaira, who has been in and out of the lineup since the start of the season and has five goals and nine points in 16 games. “It’s nice coming to the rink.
“There are always words of encouragement. Just having that on your side, you go out there with a lot of confidence.”
Khaira’s goals helped chase listless Montreal starter Carey Price 2:24 into the second period after four goals on only 13 shots. Antti Niemi allowed two more goals on 27 shots.
“I know I can play in this league but it always takes some time to figure it out,” said Khaira, a third-round draft pick in 2012. “You play little stints here and there the last couple of years, but being on the team regularly is definitely different.
“Over time I’m slowly learning. I’m getting a lot of help from the players and coaches and I’m just trying to help the team as much as I can.”
Mike Cammalleri, Milan Lucic, Oscar Klefbom and Yohann Auvitu also scored for the Oilers (12-15-2), who face the Maple Leafs in Toronto tonight. Edmonton has won four of its last six games and five of its last eight.
Alex Galchenyuk and Phillip Danault scored for Montreal (13-14-4), which is winless (02-1) in three straight home games since going on a fivegame wining streak. The Canadiens had 24 shots on Laurent Brossoit.
“A game like that; you know how Detroit felt after we beat them 10-1 (on Dec. 2). We felt a bit like that tonight,” said Montreal coach Claude Julien. “You know the importance of the game.
“I’m not brushing it off, but I’ve got to get ready for the next game (Thursday night against new Jersey). We need to get better at winning battles for loose pucks.”