Niederreiter, Wallmark score lead Hurricanes past Oilers 7-4
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — It didn’t take long for Nino Niederreiter to fit in with the Carolina Hurricanes.
Niederreiter and Lucas Wallmark each scored twice to lead the Hurricanes to a 7-4 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday night.
Acquired from Minnesota on Friday, Niederreiter got his first goals with Carolina.
“It’s always nice if you get a chance to score a goal, but more importantly we got the win we needed,” he said. “The last home game, we definitely didn’t play the way we wanted, so it’s a big win for us tonight.”
Andrei Svechnikov had a goal and two assists, and Brock McGinn and Jordan Martinook also scored as the Hurricanes snapped a two-game skid. Sebastian Aho and Jaccob Slavin each had three assists, and Petr Mrazek stopped 17 shots.
Carolina led 3-0 in the first period, and pushed the lead to 6-1 in the second.
“The start was obviously what we talked about doing and it couldn’t have went really any better,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “You have to give the guys credit, it was a 60-minute effort for the most part. The effort level was high and we deserved that game.”
Leon Draisaitl had two goals, and Brandon Manning and Zack Kassian also scored for the Oilers, who have lost two straight. Cam Talbot gave up three goals on 15 shots over the first 11:02 before he was replaced by Mikko Koskinen, who had 15 saves.
“We have to get through this, we have no choice,” Draisaitl said. “It is frustrating. We take two steps ahead and then we take two back. One ahead, and then one back. We go up and then we go down. We have to figure it out.”
Carolina wasted no time getting on the board, scoring on the first shot of the game just 28 seconds in when Niederreiter beat Talbot with a quick wrist shot for his 10th.
The Hurricanes doubled the lead 6 1/2 minutes into the first with the Oilers scrambling in their own zone on a point shot by Slavin that was tipped in by Svechnikov. Carolina was outshooting Edmonton 8-0 at the time.
Carolina kept it coming with another goal 11 minutes into the opening period as Niederreiter muscled his way out from behind the goal line and beat Talbot for his second of the game on his team’s 15th shot. Koskinen then replaced Talbot.
The Oilers finally showed some signs of life with 51 seconds left in the first when Connor McDavid passed in front for Manning, who beat Mrazek.
Carolina made it 4-1 on McGinn’s shot two minutes into the second and then made pushed the lead to four a couple of minutes later on the power play on a breakaway goal by Wallmark.
The Hurricanes made it 6-1 late in the second on a perfect feed from Warren Foegele to Martinook for his 10th.
The Oilers pulled within four with 19 seconds left in the period on Draisaitl’s 25th of the season and 100th in his career.
Kassian’s tip to start the third made it 6-3 and Edmonton pulled within two seven minutes into the final frame on the power play on Draisaitl’s second of the game.
Wallmark scored again into an empty net to seal the win.
NOTES: Carolina improved to 17-4-2 when scoring first and 18-1-2 when leading after two periods. ... Niederreiter played in his 500th regular season game. Hurricanes F Greg McKegg played in his 100th. ... The teams concluded their two-game season series Feb. 15 at Carolina. ... Edmonton is 3-18-1 when trailing after two periods. ... Draisaitl leads the Oilers with eight power-play goals.
UP NEXT
Hurricanes: At Calgary on Tuesday night.
Oilers: Host Detroit on Tuesday night.
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