Smith makes 27 saves in season debut, Oilers rally past Senators

OTTAWA -- Mike Smith made 27 saves in his season debut for the Edmonton Oilers in a 3-1 win against the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre on Monday.

It was Smith's first start since March 11, 2020. He sustained an undisclosed injury during warmups prior to the season opener against the Vancouver Canucks on Jan. 13 and was placed on long-term injured reserve two days later.
"I think the biggest thing is everyone knows how well he plays the puck," Oilers forward Tyler Ennis said of Smith. "He gives our [defensemen] some relief back there. He's a motivator in the net, he's a good leader, and he stops [pucks]. He gave us a boost tonight."
Leon Draisaitl (one goal, one assist) and Connor McDavid (assist) each extended his point streak to 10 games, and Ennis scored for the Oilers (7-7-0).
"That's how we want to play all the time," Edmonton coach Dave Tippett said. "We want to be a hardworking team and we've done it in spurts, and then it feels like when we're chasing the game, and any team's like that, you get chasing the game, you get out of sync a little bit and you're taking risks to get back in the game. But tonight was solid all the way through. We stayed with it shift to shift."

Evgenii Dadonov scored, and Matt Murray made 32 saves for the Senators (2-10-1), who will host the Oilers here again Tuesday.
Ottawa has lost 11 of its past 12 games (1-10-1).
"We didn't get to the goalie here enough," Senators coach D.J. Smith said. "And when the goalie sees the puck in this league, they make the saves. We had a few opportunities, but we let their goalie see the puck for the majority of the game."
Dadonov was credited with his second goal of the season when Oilers defenseman Adam Larsson chipped the puck into his own net to give the Senators a 1-0 lead at 5:33 of the second period.
Ottawa has scored two goals in its past two games and been held to one goal six times.
"Get some more pucks on net," Senators forward Nicholas Paul said. "Sometimes we're making the extra pass. We've got to get some greasy goals here to get us going."

Draisaitl beat Murray five-hole to tie it 1-1 at 15:11 of the second. He has eight goals and 12 assists during his point streak.
Ennis gave Edmonton a 2-1 lead at 6:09 of the third period with a wrist shot. It was his first goal of the season.
Josh Archibald scored an empty-net goal at 18:50 for the 3-1 final. McDavid extended his point streak with an assist (six goals, 16 assists).
NOTES: Oilers forward Zack Kassian sustained an upper-body injury during a fight with Senators defenseman Erik Gudbranson at 1:43 of the first period. After serving his major penalty, Kassian played a 31-second shift before leaving the game at 11:04. … McDavid and Draisaitl had simultaneous point streaks of at least 10 games on one prior occasion (11 games in 2016-17).