EDMONTON - Connor McDavid and Teddy Purcell scored in the second period as the Edmonton Oilers won their third straight with a 3-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday night.
Mark Letestu opened the scoring for the Oilers (3-4-0) in the first while Nail Yakupov added a pair of assists. Edmonton snapped an eight-game losing streak against Detroit with the win.
Tomas Tatar found the back of the net for Detroit (3-3-0), which lost its third in a row.
Letestu helped the Oilers get on the board with a power-play goal at 12:32 of the first period. Yakupov made a perfect feed in front of the net and Letestu was able to direct the puck past Red Wings goaltender Petr Mrazek. It was Letestu's first goal in an Edmonton uniform.
The Oilers had 11 first period shots to Detroit's five on Edmonton starter Cam Talbot, who made a couple of huge glove saves on a late Red Wings power play.
Edmonton went up 2-0 at 6:34 of the second period as Benoit Pouliot sent McDavid in on a breakaway and he beat Mrazek with a deke to score his fourth goal of the season.
The Oilers extended the lead just 30 seconds later as the rebound from a Purcell shot went off Detroit defenceman Kyle Quincey and into the Red Wings net.
Detroit cut into the lead seven minutes into the third as Tatar scored on a backhand shot off a rebound.
Both teams return to action on Friday as the Oilers play the second game of a three-game homestand against the Washington Capitals. The Red Wings travel to Calgary to face the Flames.
Notes: Detroit was 15-0-2 against the Oilers dating back to 2009 prior to the game. ... In their past 30 meetings, the Red Wings were 22-1-7 against Edmonton. … The Oilers were without Jordan Eberle (shoulder), Matt Hendricks (foot) and Griffin Reinhart (undisclosed). Edmonton called up forward Andrew Miller and he played his first game of the season. … Injured for the Red Wings were Pavel Datsyuk (ankle) and Johan Franzen (concussion-like symptoms).
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