Korpikoski hat trick leads Oilers past Rangers for 5th straight win
EDMONTON, Alberta — After honoring former coach and general manager Glen Sather with a banner-raising ceremony for his five Stanley Cups before the game, the Edmonton Oilers then went out and played as if it was still the 1980s.
Lauri Korpikoski scored three goals for his first career hat trick, Taylor Hall added two goals and two assists, and the Oilers beat the New York Rangers 7-5 Friday night for their fifth straight win.
''It was a fun night for sure, it reminded me of one of those 80s games where it was high scoring,'' Korpikoski said. ''The puck just seemed to follow me around. It was one of those nights where everything was going in.''
Teddy Purcell and Darnell Nurse also scored for the Oilers, who have won their past six at home dating back to Nov. 20.
The Oilers scored twice in the final 1:34 after the Rangers had tied the score just 12 seconds earlier.
''Last shot wins,'' Purcell said. ''It was crazy. With all the attention around the city and Slats coming back had everyone fired up. It was nice to finish off this homestand with another win.''
Sather is currently the Rangers' team president.
Oilers coach Todd McLellan said it was good to see the team break out on a night when goalie Anders Nilsson struggled.
''(Anders) has bailed our butts out a number of times, so it was nice to see our group go back and bail him out a little bit,'' McLellan said. ''That's a sign of our team coming together. The first four wins we talked about winning a bunch of different ways, but you can throw a fifth into the pile now.''
Derick Brassard scored twice and Mats Zuccarello, Rick Nash and Chris Kreider also had goals for the Rangers. New York has lost two in a row and four of the last five.
''It just got away from us tonight,'' Rangers defenseman Dan Girardi said. ''I wish I could explain it. It was definitely a bad effort on a night where our president gets honored. You have to have a better effort than that.''
Nash tied the score 5-5 on a power-play goal with 1:46 remaining in regulation. Hall then put the Oilers back ahead for good 12 seconds later with his second of the night. Korpikoski completed his hat trick into an empty net with 38 seconds to go.
Edmonton took a 4-3 lead just 18 seconds into the third period on a backhand shot from Hall.
Nurse gave the Oilers their second two-goal lead of the game at 2:40 to chase Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist in favor of backup Antti Raanta.
New York made it 5-4 less than 4 minutes later as Brassard knocked in the rebound of Nash's shot that went off the post.
Edmonton opened the scoring on a power-play goal at 6;35 of the first as Korpikoski made a strong second effort to poke a rebound under Lundqvist.
The Rangers tied it with 7:44 left in the period when Edmonton couldn't clear the puck, allowing Kreider to make a long pass to Zuccarello, who put his 12th of the season past Oilers goalie Anders Nilsson from the front of the net.
The Oilers went ahead with goals 1:10 apart later in the period. Korpikoski got his second in tight off a rebound and Hall dropped a pass back to Purcell in the slot and he picked the top corner to make it 3-1 with just over 3 minutes remaining.
New York got one back 53 seconds into the second period as Kreider split the defence and slid the puck between Nilsson's legs.
The Rangers tied it at 8:44 on a long shot from Brassard.
NOTES: Rangers bench boss Alain Vigneault coached his 1,000th game. ... The teams will meet again Tuesday night in New York in the second game of the Oilers' four-game road trip that begins the previous night at Boston.
