Recap: Nashville Predators @ Edmonton Oilers 11.04.23

EDMONTON -- Ryan O'Reilly had a hat trick and an assist for the Nashville Predators in a 5-2 win against the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Place on Saturday.

Filip Forsberg had goal and three assists, and Tommy Novak had a goal and an assist for the Predators (5-6-0). Kevin Lankinen made 33 saves.

"We're connected. We're doing the right things and just kind of moving our feet and the puck," O'Reilly said of he and linemates Forsberg and Gustav Nyquist. "And I thought we did a great job of supporting each other."

Zach Hyman and Darnell Nurse scored for the Oilers (2-7-1), who are 0-4-1 at Rogers Place this season. Jack Campbell made 29 saves.

"I thought we lost a lot of puck battles today," Edmonton coach Jay Woodcroft said. "Didn't like seeing that. I thought our puck play wasn't good enough today. To a man not good enough, from everybody. The only way forward is to stick together. So, that's No. 1. Stick together and work your way through it."

Nurse gave the Oilers a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 9:57, scoring with a slap shot from the top of the left face-off circle that hit off the post and deflected in off Lankinen's back.

Forsberg scored 25 seconds later on a wraparound to tie it 1-1.

"We were playing against [Connor McDavid's] line and it's always tough," O'Reilly said. "… I think that was a massive play by 'Fil,' that first goal, especially because we kind of started flat tonight. But he steps up, makes a big play and it kind of sparks us. We found our groove from there."

NSH@EDM: O’Reilly notches fifth NHL hat trick

O'Reilly scored 23 seconds into the second period to give Nashville a 2-1 lead. He tapped in the rebound of a point shot by Forsberg.

O'Reilly then put Nashville ahead 3-1 at 3:24 with a one-timer off a cross-crease pass from Forsberg on a power play.

Hyman got the Oilers to within 3-2 at 5:08 when Evan Bouchard's one-timer on a power play deflected in off him.

"We go into every game thinking we are going to win," Hyman said. "So when it doesn't happen, obviously you are not happy. It seems like it is continuing to happen. It is not fun. We know how good we can be and we know what is causing us to be in this spot. There is no magic pill. We just have to go out there and fix it.

"That is the frustrating part is that we have yet to fix those errors that continue to come up in our game. We have the recipe. We know what to do. We just have to go out there and do it."

Novak pushed it to 4-2 at 15:15 of the second when he got behind Oilers defenseman Vincent Desharnais, received a pass from Luke Evangelista and scored top shelf on Campbell.

O'Reilly completed the hat trick to make it 5-2 at 8:22 of the third peirod, jamming in a puck at the side of the net. However, play continued until O'Reilly scored again on that same shift, which is when a video review then determined the puck had completely crossed the goal line on his earlier shot.

McDavid had an assist but finished the game with a minus-2 rating. Draisaitl and Hyman each was minus-3.

"I like when we put up five (goals), but to only let in two against that group is pretty remarkable," Predators coach Andrew Brunette said. "I mean, they're probably one of the highest octane offenses in the League with the best player in hockey (McDavid), and I thought we did a good job."

Lankinen made 23 saves over the final two periods.

"He kept us in it, especially a couple of shifts there where we knew we needed him," Brunette said. "I thought he was calm, I thought he was quiet, he made some big saves. Even when chaos was going around him, I thought he did a good job of keeping within himself.

NOTES: O'Reilly's hat trick was his fifth in the NHL. … Predators defenseman Ryan McDonagh took warmups but did not play because of a lower-body injury. He is day to day. He was replaced in the lineup by Marc Del Gaizo, who had an assist in 18:02 of ice time in his NHL debut. … Oilers forward Raphael Lavoie was minus-1 in 9:25 of ice time in his NHL debut. … Edmonton's only home win this season came in the 2023 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic at Commonwealth Stadium last Sunday (5-2 against the Calgary Flames). ... Prior to Saturday, the Oilers' last loss to the Predators in regulation was Oct. 20, 2018 (10-0-2 in previous 12 games).