Oilers win on power-play goal in overtime

NEWARK, N.J. -- Mark Letestu scored a power-play goal with 1:01 remaining in overtime to give the Edmonton Oilers a 2-1 win against the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center on Saturday.
It was the 12th road victory in 23 games for the Oilers. Edmonton finished 12-23-6 on the road last season.
"I think [our road record (12-6-5)] speaks to change and turnover; we're better equipped to play on the road physically and mentally," Oilers coach Todd McLellan said. "We're getting better performances out of players and, knock on wood, we've stayed healthy. We played a lot of road games early last year without some key people, and it's hard to win games when you don't have your big horses up and running."

After Devils forward Travis Zajac was called for slashing Connor McDavid at 2:41, the Oilers went to work on their fourth-ranked road power play. Letestu took a pass from Oscar Klefbom at the top of the left circle and scored on a slap shot.
WATCH: All Oilers vs. Devils highlights
Rookie defenseman Matt Benning scored, and Cam Talbot made 19 saves for the Oilers (21-13-7).
Rookie forward Miles Wood scored in the first period, and Cory Schneider made 41 saves for the Devils (16-17-8).

Benning tied the game 1-1 on his first NHL goal, a slap shot from the top of the right circle that beat Schneider between his left pad and glove 3:33 into the third period. Matt Hendricks was providing a screen in front of Schneider.
"I'm just excited that we gave ourselves a chance to get into overtime," said Benning, who played his 29th NHL game. "It was a great screen by [Hendricks]. Honestly I didn't even hear them announce it over the speaker. I knew I'd get my first eventually, so it didn't matter who scored it."

Wood gave the Devils a 1-0 lead 9:44 into the first period.
Schneider made 16 saves in the first, rebounding after being pulled after allowing three goals on five shots in a 4-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday. The Devils allowed 43 shots after yielding 14 to the Maple Leafs.
"I appreciate coach coming back with me," Schneider said. "He could have gone the other way (to Keith Kinkaid). It was good for him to believe in me. That's part of the game. You have to bounce back from bad performances."
The Devils played with five defensemen for most of the game after Yohann Auvitu sustained a lower-body injury 39 seconds into his first shift of the first period. He is day to day.
"We would have loved to hold on to the lead, or won in overtime," Schneider said. "They put a lot of pressure on us and on our defense. We were down to five defensemen and we had to defend quite a bit more than we would like to."

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Goal of the game

After taking a pass from Zajac at his blue line, Wood showed tremendous speed as he skated past defenseman Eric Gryba in the left circle before beating Talbot underneath the pads.

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Save of the game

Schneider stopped all 16 shots faced in the first period, including a save against McDavid at 6:36 off a wrist shot.

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Highlight of the game

McDavid finished the game with eight shots, and his attempt that hit the right goalpost 50 seconds into the game was delivered with defenseman Jon Merrill tugging from behind.

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Unsung performance of the game

Talbot's best save came when he used his right pad to deny Parenteau off a pass from Taylor Hall 11:11 into the second period with Edmonton trailing 1-0.

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They said it

"New Jersey has always been a classy organization. The Adam Larsson tribute the organization had was very nice. When Lou [Lamoriello] was [general manager], he made sure that it was classy organization, and now [GM Ray Shero] has kept that going. For them to recognize Adam's contributions to the team and community, I thought was nice and we appreciated it." -- Oilers coach Todd McLellan on Adam Larsson's first game in New Jersey since being traded by the Devils
"I would have loved to score. It's not going in for me at all right now. That's the way it goes sometimes. I think the chances are there. We spent a lot of time in our end tonight and we relied on [Schneider] a lot. We've got to find a way to get out of our end." -- Devils left wing Taylor Hall, who played his first game against the Oilers since being traded by Edmonton

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Need to know

Devils defenseman Andy Greene (upper body) will miss his third straight game Monday against the Florida Panthers. ... Devils defenseman Jon Merrill played a game-high 27:38. ... Larsson had two shots and two hits in 22:26. … Hall had three shots in 17:26.

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What's next

Oilers: At the Ottawa Senators on Sunday (7 p.m. ET; SN, TVA Sports, NHL.TV)
Devils: Host the Florida Panthers on Monday (7 p.m. ET; SN, SN1, MSG+, FS-F, NHL.TV)