Oilers rally in third, end seven-game slide

EDMONTON -- The Edmonton Oilers scored three third-period goals to avenge their most lopsided loss of the season in a 3-1 win against the New York Islanders at Rexall Place on Sunday.
Anton Lander, Leon Draisaitl and Brandon Davidson scored for the Oilers (23-34-7) to end a seven-game losing streak. Goalie Cam Talbot made 36 saves for Edmonton, which lost 8-1 to the Islanders on Feb. 7 at Barclays Center.
"It feels pretty good to get this win, especially against a team that embarrassed us the last time we played them," Talbot said. "We had some redemption to take care of and we went out there and accomplished that tonight.

"We started to pick up our game on the California trip, but didn't get the results we wanted (2-1 loss at Los Angeles Kings and 2-1 OT loss at Anaheim Ducks on Thursday and Friday, respectively). We've been taking steps in the right direction. Tonight was a pretty gutsy game for our group against a good team. It felt good to get the two points tonight."
Casey Cizikas scored for the Islanders (33-20-7), who won the first three games of a season-long, seven-game road trip that continues Tuesday at the Vancouver Canucks. Goalie Jaroslav Halak made 23 saves.

"I didn't think we had a good first period, but I thought the second and third we did a better job of getting pucks in deep and working them down low and getting pucks to the net," Cizikas said. "We just have to score on our opportunities when we have them. [Talbot] stood on his head, he came up with the saves when he needed to. We had good pressure in the third and we kept firing the pucks and he kept coming (up) with save after save."
The game was scoreless after a tight-checking first period, where the Oilers outshot the Islanders 6-5. Nikolay Kulemin came close to giving the Islanders the lead, hitting the goal post with under a minute remaining in the period.
"They're a quick team and I thought we didn't start the way we wanted to start," Islanders coach Jack Capuano said. "If we're not going to get secondary scoring, we're going to struggle down the stretch and our power play, until we put [Ryan] Pulock on it, we didn't establish any shots from the point at all. We had opportunities on the power play which would have been a difference-maker, we could have been up 2-0 and to me that's the difference in the game."
Cizikas scored 17:43 into the second to give the Islanders a 1-0 lead, getting to a loose puck in front of the net, spinning and putting a shot past Talbot. Cizikas was first to the puck after Nick Leddy's point shot hit Oilers defenseman Adam Clendening up high and dropped to the ice.
Lander tied the game 1-1 at 10:12 of the third period, taking a pass from defenseman Jordan Oesterle and putting a shot past Halak. It was Lander's first goal since March 16, 2015. He had two assists in his past 52 games.

"It's been a tough time for me, both mentally and physically," Lander said. "More importantly, though, we got a big win too. We've been playing pretty good the last two games and I think the group needed the win to show what we needed to do to win games. It was nice to get the first goal, but also the win."
Draisaitl scored 55 seconds after Lander's goal to put Edmonton up 2-1. The Oilers center was first to a loose puck in the crease and poked it past Halak.
Moments later, Islanders forward Anders Lee had an excellent opportunity to tie the game on a pass in front, but Talbot was able to slide across his crease to make the save.
"I thought Talbot played really well, he made some big saves," Capuano said. "There were a few scrums in front where we had some opportunities. I look at the timely saves. We were up 1-0 and had two or three really good chances to go up by two and to me that's the difference in the game."
Davidson put Edmonton up 3-1 at 16:57, taking a pass from Jordan Eberle on an odd-man rush and sending a shot past Halak.

"We needed a little extra push and we got it from a couple of key players," Davidson said. "It was great to see everybody pulling on the same rope. That's the identity we want, the one we're building here in the last three games. We have to keep working on that."
The win ended Edmonton's five-game losing streak at home.
"Obviously the homestand after we beat Toronto [5-2 on Feb. 11] was really disappointing," Oilers coach Todd McLellan said. "Our last nine periods have been good and that's a reflection on [the players] that their effort level wasn't good enough. Give them credit for responding."
Edmonton begins a four-game road trip Tuesday at the Buffalo Sabres. It will be the first game featuring Oilers center Connor McDavid and Sabres forward Jack Eichel, the No. 1 and No. 2 selections in the 2015 NHL Draft.