GAME RECAP: Hurricanes 7, Oilers 2

RALEIGH, NC - The Oilers will be happy they don't have to play Andrei Svechnikov again this season.
The Russian sniper notched his second hat trick in two games against Edmonton in the Hurricanes 7-2 victory at PNC Arena on Thursday.
Carolina poured on the offence, with Brent Burns, Jordan Staal, Jordan Martinhook, and Jesper Fast adding the other goals around Svechnikov's stellar performance. Starting netminder Pyotr Kochetkov wasn't overly busy, but came up big when needed to in the Hurricanes victory.
Connor McDavid scored a beautiful goal to give him 15-in-15 games, and Zach Hyman added his seventh in the loss. The Oilers now sit at 8-7-0 on the season and will now head to Florida to wrap up their four-game road trip against the Florida Panthers on Saturday night.

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FIRST BLOOD

The Oilers looked as if they were going to escape the first period unscathed, with the ice seemingly tilted towards their goal for the latter half of the frame.
It was the man who scored a hat trick against Edmonton back at Rogers Place in Andrei Svechnikov who picked up his ninth of the season, sliding a low shot towards the Oilers net. Unfortunately for Edmonton, the puck would be going wide of the net until a deflection off a sprawling Tyson Barrie's stick directed it into the net behind Campbell for the game's first goal.
The goal wouldn't be the only buzzer beater of the night for the Hurricanes. With less than a second remaining in the second period, Jordan Staal fired a perfect backhand shot on the Oilers goal that beat Campbell under the blocker and deflected off the post and in to give the Hurricanes a 4-1 lead.

PLAY OF THE GAME

The usual odds-on favourite for the highlight of the night did it again on Thursday in Carolina.
Connor McDavid collected the puck at the halfwall and went for a skate, looping around the faceoff circle and into the slot while dangling the puck through a myriad of Hurricanes defenders. The Oilers captain would finish the play off with a sublime backhand by Pyotr Kochetkov to bring the Oilers within two in the final frame, but that was as close as they would get.
McDavid's marker continued his sensational start to the season, giving the Oilers captain 15 goals in his first 15 games, while extending his point streak to nine contests.

SAVE OF THE GAME

It was quite a season debut for the young Kochetkov who made 20 saves on the night, but none of them bigger than the one he made in the second period on Zach Hyman.
After a blueline bobble sent the Oilers winger in all alone on the 23-year-old, the Hurricanes goaltender came flying out of the net for a sprawling pokecheck. The all-or-nothing maneuver worked to the rookie's favour, denying Hyman of his second of the game at a key juncture of the contest.
Kochetkov now improves to an impressive 4-0 in his career, with only three career starts having picked up a win in relief last season against the New York Islanders.

TURNING POINT

The Oilers had a prime opportunity to break the ice, but the Hurricanes young goaltender made the big stop when it counted.
It was the recently promoted Dylan Holloway -- filling in for Evander Kane on the second line with Draisaitl and Hyman -- who was buzzing from the get-go with a couple early opportunities on Kochetkov, including a breakaway where Brady Skjei got his stick in the winger's hands.
The infraction gave Holloway a penalty shot opportunity. The forward came in with quick hands, but couldn't lift the backhander over the pad of Kochetkov for what would have been his first NHL goal. Had he managed to tuck the puck behind the Canes goalie, he would have been the eighth player in NHL history to do so on a penalty shot, joining former Edmonton Oiler Andrew Miller.
Miller achieved the feat back on March 27, 2015, when he beat Dallas Stars goaltender Kari Lehthonen with a glove side snipe in an Oilers 4-0 victory.
Unfortunately for the Oilers, the Hurricanes would score later on in the first period on their way to their third win in the second game of a back-to-back.

TOP PERFORMER

Svechnikov continued his trend of being a thorn in the Oilers side this season.
The former second-overall pick opened the scoring for the Hurricanes with 20 seconds left in the first period, but he wouldn't be done.
At the 10:24 mark of the second, the Russian would collect another Necas pass, skate over the Edmonton blueline and fire a long shot on Campbell. The snipe ricocheted off the glove of the Oilers netminder and in to give the Hurricanes a 3-1 lead at the time.
With 4:11 left in the game he would shovel a third chance opportunity over a sprawling Campbell for his second hat trick in as many games against the Oilers this season.
The goal was his 11th of the season and his sixth goal against the Edmonton Oilers. The 22-year-old set career highs last season with 30 goals and 39 assists last season, but is well on pace to eclipse those marks with his red hot start to the 2022 campaign.

PARTING WORDS

Head Coach Jay Woodcroft on the late period goals:
"I don't think they helped. I thought it was a competitive first period. We had our chances to get in front of the game, we didn't. Then to give one up in the last 30 seconds of that period was tough, but I thought we came out in the second period. We competed hard. They scored basically a goal at the end of a five on three, but we stayed in it and battled. We just made too many mistakes and this league is too hard to recover from self inflicted wounds. I thought tonight there were a lot of self inflicted wounds, pucks that were on our tape that we didn't guarantee behind the other team's defense and ended up coming back and biting us."
Woodcroft on not getting the amount of turnovers:
"The puck was on our tape. We had full possession of the puck and we didn't guarantee it out or we didn't guarantee a deep. And what ended up happening was that a good team and that is a really good hockey team over there made you pay. And for us, we're trying to find consistency in our game. And we played a really good game in Tampa. As I said, I wouldn't knock our competition level in this. I thought we competed hard. They caught a way on us at the very end there, but we competed hard. But against the top team, you can't mismanage the puck."
Connor McDavid on getting behind again vs. the Hurricanes:
"It takes a lot of energy to play catch up. You know, it's not easy on everyone. Obviously, we got to do a better job of not letting that happen."
McDavid on having to play without Evander Kane:
"Injuries happen throughout the course of the year. It's nothing new. Every team deals with that. Obviously, we're hit with it with a big guy, a good player. For us, it's next man up mentality. That's the way it's got to be. He's not the only guy that's going to get hurt throughout the year."
McDavid on the turnovers:
"Yeah, we got to protect the puck. We can't keep turning it over, especially against good teams. That's a real good team and they make it hurt when you give them chances like that. They did that tonight."