Hall and Purcell lead Edmonton to third straight win, beat Buffalo 4-2

EDMONTON - Taylor Hall and Teddy Purcell each had a goal and an assist as the Edmonton Oilers continued their climb out of the NHL basement with a 4-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday.

Jordan Eberle and Luke Gazdic also scored for the Oilers (11-15-2), who have won three in a row and four of their last five to move to within three points of a playoff position.

Jack Eichel and Ryan O'Reilly replied for the Sabres (11-13-3), who have lost two of their last three.

The Sabres got on the board seven minutes into the first after some sloppy play by the Oilers in their own zone ended up with the puck on the stick of Eichel, who beat Edmonton goalie Anders Nilsson with a backhander for his ninth of the year.

The Oilers tied the game midway through the first as Hall hooked a shot towards the net from the blue line that was tipped by Purcell past Buffalo goalie Chad Johnson.

Edmonton made it 2-1 with four minutes left in the opening frame when Ryan Nugent-Hopkins battled to get a puck behind the net and fed it in front for Eberle for the goal.

The home squad added to its lead on the power play with just over a minute left in the first as Purcell slid a puck under a sprawling Johnson to Hall, who scored his 11th into a wide-open net.

The Sabres finally connected on one of their many power plays in the second period with six-and-a-half minutes left as Zach Bogosian threaded the needle with a pass in front to O'Reilly, who beat Nilsson on the backhand.

Edmonton restored its two-goal lead with two minutes left in the second as the puck went in off of Gazdic's skate while he was being shoved into the Buffalo net.

There was no scoring in the third.

The Sabres are right back at it on Monday, heading to Vancouver to face the Canucks. The Oilers are off until Wednesday, when they host the San Jose Sharks.

Notes: Edmonton swept both games last season… Out for the Oilers were Connor McDavid (clavicle) Rob Klinkhammer (leg), Nail Yakupov (ankle), Benoit Pouliot (lower body) and Andrew Ference (undisclosed) … Injured for the Sabres were Robin Lehner (ankle), Tyler Ennis (upper body), Mark Pysyk (lower body) and Mike Weber (knee).