Oilers slip past Hurricanes for 2-1 victory
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) The Edmonton Oilers used a late-power-play goal to get a hard-fought road victory.
Justin Schultz scored with the man advantage at 9:01 of the third period and the Edmonton Oilers earned a 2-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday.
David Perron and Taylor Hall had the assists on Schultz's ninth goal of the season as part of his third multi-point game of the season.
''Yeah, it was a good road effort for us,'' Shultz said.
''We battled hard all game.''
Matt Hendricks opened the scoring at 6:43 of the first to give the Oilers a 1-0 lead. Boyd Gordon and Schultz had the assists on Hendricks' fifth goal of the season.
The goal was his first since Feb. 3, and third with Edmonton after being acquired from Nashville on Jan. 15.
Hendricks outskated Hurricanes defenseman Ryan Murphy to the puck behind the Carolina net and attempted to pass it back to Edmonton center Anton Lander.
The puck deflected off Hurricanes defenseman Jay Harrison's stick as he trailed to defend on the play and the puck ended up behind Khudobin to give Edmonton the early lead.
Edmonton goalie Ben Scrivens made 29 saves for the win.
''He's been great,'' Hendricks said of Scrivens' performance.
''Our tandem (of goalies) has been outstanding. Since I got here, goaltending has been number one, the backbone of this team, and it continued again tonight.''
Khudobin made 31 saves for the Hurricanes while the Oilers dominated play throughout the early part of the first period.
Carolina's Jordan Staal tied it at 1-1 with 17.2 seconds remaining in the opening period as his brother Eric Staal and defenseman Justin Faulk helped set up the play.
It was Staal's 14th goal of the season and extended his point streak to six games, giving him three goals and six assists during that span.
Staal's shot attempt was deflected high toward Scrivens after it caromed of Perron's stick as he tried to block it.
As Scrivens' effort to slap the puck away with his blocker was ineffective, Staal batted it past him and into the net to tie the game.
''It was a great team effort,'' Oilers coach Dallas Eakins said.
''I thought our penalty kill sparked us. There's a lot of sacrifice out there blocking those shots and it really got our bench ignited, and finally our power play was able to chip in and win us the game.''
Edmonton finished 1 for 4 on the power play and Carolina was 0 for 3.
The Hurricanes' continued ineffectiveness with the power play left coach Kirk Muller struggling to explain it.
''We've changed personnel around, tried guys in different positions, but at the end of the day, it's just not getting results,'' Muller said.
''Obviously, it hasn't been there. At the end of the day, you just (gotta) get the job done.''
Despite the loss, the Hurricanes are trying to stay positive.
''It's frustrating,'' Jordan Staal said.
''There's times when we play so well and do a lot of good things, playing smart and doing those things. Then there are times when it's just not working. It's frustrating for sure.''
Notes: Hurricanes forward Radek Dvorak did not return to play in the third period, suffering an upper body injury. ... At puck drop, Carolina's Jiri Tlusty was scratched with a lower-body injury which moved Nathan Gerbe into his spot on a line with Jordan Staal and Alexander Semin. ... Defenseman Mike Komisarek was also a healthy scratch and John-Michael Liles remained out with a concussion, missing his fifth straight game for the Hurricanes.
