Eberle scores winner in shootout to lift Oilers past Bruins
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) A return home was apparently just what the struggling Edmonton Oilers needed.
Jordan Eberle scored in the shootout to lift the Oilers to a 3-2 victory over Boston on Wednesday night, snapping the Bruins' five-game winning streak.
Mark Letestu and Matt Hendricks scored in regulation as the Oilers won for the second time in six games. Edmonton was coming off a 1-3-1 road trip that was capped by a 3-0 loss at Toronto on Monday night.
''We weren't at all pleased with how our road trip ended in Toronto,'' Edmonton coach Todd McLellan said. ''To come back and play and engage in a game against a big, physical team was something we needed.''
Anders Nilsson continued to make his case to be the Oilers' No. 1 goalie, making 38 saves through overtime and stopping all three shots he faced in the shootout.
''Huge win for us,'' Nilsson said. ''We knew it was going to be a tough game going into this one and I think all the guys wanted to bounce back from the Toronto game. We didn't play our best game against them so we wanted to bounce back and show the home town fans what we're capable of.''
Torey Krug and Zdeno Chara scored for the Bruins, and Tuukka Rask finished with 34 saves.
''We were average tonight,'' Bruins coach Claude Julien said. ''Our skating game was there, but we didn't play a real hard game tonight and that's what we need to do. We needed to play hard against this team and we chose to play a little bit more their type of game.''
Letestu's short-handed goal on a 2-on-1 give-and-go with Hendricks put the Oilers ahead 1-0 with about 9 1/2 minutes to go in the second. Krug's point shot caromed in off Edmonton defenseman Andrej Sekera to tie it with 1:33 left in the period.
Hendricks tipped Letestu's shot past Rask at 9:22 of the third, and Chara tied it again a little more than 7 minutes later with his fourth of the season.
Edmonton outshot Boston 10-8 in the first period, though the Bruins had the best scoring chance. However, Nilsson made a big glove save on a point-blank shot by Matt Beleskey.
Taylor Hall was stopped on a partial breakaway by a diving Rask five minutes into the second period and a trailing Eberle couldn't find a way to get it into over the Boston goalie into a wide-open net.
Edmonton had a late power play in the overtime session, but couldn't get a flurry of shots past Rask, sending the game to the shootout.
''We got a point out of it, but I think we have to realize that if we keep playing like this, it's just a matter of time before we're going to burn ourselves,'' Chara said.
NOTES: It was the first of two meetings between the teams this season, with the rematch in Boston on Dec. 14. ... The Oilers continue to have their problems on the injury front, with absent forwards Connor McDavid (collarbone), Rob Klinkhammer (leg), Nail Yakupov (ankle) and Benoit Pouliot (lower body). ... Out for the Bruins were Chris Kelly (leg), David Pastrnak (foot) and defenseman Kevan Miller, who is reportedly close to returning from a concussion.
