Eberle, McDavid help Oilers defeat Senators

OTTAWA -- The Edmonton Oilers line of Connor McDavid, Jordan Eberle and Benoit Pouliot continued its recent surge when the Oilers defeated the Ottawa Senators 7-2 at Canadian Tire Centre on Thursday
Eberle had two goals and an assist and McDavid and Pouliot had two assists each. They have combined for 14 points in two games since McDavid returned from a broken collarbone.

McDavid, the first pick in the 2015 NHL Draft, has a goal and four assists since returning on Tuesday, Eberle three goals and two assists and Pouliot has four assists.
"It's just a good combination," McDavid said. "[Eberle] has that skill and speed with the puck. I think you saw that tonight on a couple of nice plays. [Pouliot] is so big and he's so good along the wall. He gets pucks back on the forecheck and is a great complementary player to Ebs and I."
Mark Fayne, Zack Kassian, Andrej Sekera, Leon Draisaitl and Brandon Davidson also scored for the Oilers (21-26-5) and Cam Talbot made 36 saves. The Oilers won their second game in a row.

The Oilers tied a season high in goals; they also scored seven in a 7-5 win against the New York Rangers on Dec. 11.
Mike Hoffman, with his team leading 23rd goal, and Mark Stone scored for the Senators (23-23-6) who lost their third straight game.
Craig Anderson allowed three goals on 10 shots before he was replaced by Andrew Hammond halfway through the first period. Hammond made 14 saves and allowed four goals.
The Senators, who have given up 13 goals in the two games since the all-star break, held a players meeting after the game. The message?

"Stick together. We're still confident in this group," Senators forward Zack Smith said. "I think the main focus right now is not to feel sorry for ourselves.
"It's a good test to see what kind of team you have when you go through something like this, and if guys start falling apart. It's just a matter of sticking together and I think we've done that so far."
The Oilers led 3-0 11:16 into the game on goals by Fayne and two by Eberle with McDavid and Pouliot assisting on each of Eberle's goals, his 13th and 14th of the season.
Fayne opened the scoring - it was the 35th time in 52 games this season the Senators have given up the first goal - when his shot from the point found the net behind a screened Anderson at 4:29.

Forty-one seconds later, after a turnover at the Edmonton line, Eberle and McDavid broke away on a 2-on-1. Using McDavid as a decoy, Eberle avoided a diving Ottawa wing Bobby Ryan and put his shot over Anderson's right shoulder.
Eberle scored on the power play at 11:16 when McDavid threaded a pass from the goal line to Anderson's left between Ottawa defenseman Cody Ceci and Mark Borowiecki and onto Eberle's stick in the slot.
The Oilers power play was 3-for-3; The Senators entered the game with the 30th-ranked penalty kill in the NHL.
"Our power play has kind of been the catalyst for our team. We've scored five goals in the last two games," Eberle said. "That's key. Any time you have a good power play, it causes the other team, I don't want to say play soft, but they want to be a little bit aware of how they are going to play and not take penalties. That's been huge."
Hoffman and Stone scored to make it 3-2 in the second period, but the Oilers then scored the next four goals.

Oilers coach Todd McLellan liked what he saw from McDavid, but was even happier with the strong team game Edmonton played.
"The coach only played him 13 minutes because it was 7-2," McLellan said. "He normally would get six or seven minutes more. He was dynamic. He had great speed, some poise and deception on the power play and created a real good scoring chance for Eberle in the second period. A gifted player. He's fun to watch.
"This was a team win tonight. Connor played a huge part in it. I'm not going to downplay what he can do and what he does and the energy he brings to our team, but I don't want to discredit any of the other players that block shots and penalty killed and took hits and there were a few fights. It takes all of those types of players to win a game. Connor is a big part of it, but it takes a group to win; it doesn't matter how good you are."

This was the first game of a four-game road trip for the Oilers which continues Saturday in Montreal against the Canadiens.
The Senators, who played the first game of a three-game homestand, play the Toronto Maple Leafs at Canadian Tire Centre on Saturday and will be looking to break out of their slump.
The Senators are 11-17-1 since Dec. 1.
"The way we have been playing and the results we've been getting are unacceptable," Senators defenseman Marc Methot said. "But we can't start turning on each other as a group in the dressing room, because that's a recipe for disaster and that won't get us anywhere."