OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Edmonton's offense came from its defense Tuesday night, and the Oilers notched another victory over the Ottawa Senators.
Defensemen Darnell Nurse, Evan Bouchard and Tyson Barrie provided the scoring and the Oilers beat the Senators 3-2.
“The tale of the tape tonight is our defense came through and got big goals for us and we found a way to win,” Edmonton coach Dave Tippett said.
“Ottawa, you’ve got to give them credit. They worked hard,” he added.
With the defense providing the offense, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl saw their 10-game point streaks come to an end. Draisaitl hit the post with the net empty in the final seconds.
With the win, the Oilers (8-7-0) moved above the .500 mark for the first time this season.
“I liked the way we hung around. We scored timely goals, we got timely saves and we found a way to get the two points,” Tippett said.
Edmonton's move is largely due to their success against struggling Ottawa (2-11-1).
It was the fourth game between the teams in 10 days. Edmonton won the first three — 8-5 and 4-2 in Edmonton and 3-1 Monday at the Canadian Tire Centre. They will meet five more times in the regular season.
Connor Brown and Evgenii Dadonov scored for Ottawa.
Ottawa replaced goaltender Marcus Hogberg with Matt Murray at 3:53 of the second period after the Oilers went up 3-1. Hogberg stopped 10 of 13 shots.
Trailing 3-1 going into the third, the Senators closed within a goal when a pass from Mike Reilly sent Dadonov in on a breakaway. He beat Mikko Koskinen at 1:20 for his second goal in as many nights.
Ottawa has lost three straight and 12 of 13 — including 11 in regulation. Its wins came in the season opener Jan. 15 against Toronto and Feb. 4 against Montreal.
The Senators are working hard to dig themselves out of a deep early season hole. But it’s proving difficult. Ottawa outshot Edmonton 42-22, including 30-10 over the last two periods.
“I thought right from the get-go we were jumping,” Senators coach D.J. Smith said. “Third period we had a great push. I thought we were probably the better team all the way through the night ... We asked the guys to be ready and they were ready tonight.”
Edmonton has won two straight and five of six.
Koskinen returned in goal for Edmonton and finished with 42 saves after giving way Monday to Mike Smith, who was impressive in his season debut after being sidelined by injury.
NOTES: McDavid had 22 points (six goals, 16 assists) while Draisaitl had 20 (eight goals, 12 assists) over their previous 10 games. ... The 24-year-old McDavid, in his sixth NHL season, started the game at 496 career points — 171 goals and 325 assists. ... Ottawa was without the injured Erik Brannstrom. ... Zack Kassian, injured in a fight Monday, was out absent for the Oilers.
UP NEXT
Oilers: Wrap up a four-game trip Thursday in Montreal.
Senators: Start a five-game trip Thursday, with two games in Winnipeg followed by three in Toronto.
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