GAME RECAP: Oilers 6, Predators 1

NASHVILLE, TN – Leon Draisaitl and the Oilers continue to feel the rhythm in the Music City.

Behind four-point nights from Leon Draisaitl, Zach Hyman and a 42-save performance from Jack Campbell, the Edmonton Oilers blew out the Nashville Predators 6-1 on Tuesday night to claim their first victory of the regular season in Mattias Ekholm's first game back at Bridgestone Arena as a member of the opposition.

Draisaitl scored his 127th and 128th career power-play goals, surpassing Glenn Anderson and Ryan Smyth for the all-time Oilers franchise record, and now has 22 goals and 34 points in his last 13 games against the Predators after scoring in his third straight game to begin the campaign.

"Obviously, I'm proud of it," Draisaitl said. "I'll take it, but with that being said I'm very well aware of how much four other guys on that unit look out for me and put me into great spots."

Hyman added a goal and three helpers – creating goals for linemates Warren Foegele and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins off his hard-working approach in the offensive zone – while Connor McDavid added a goal off another one of those magical moments from the captain in the second period.

"If I'm not working, I'm not playing my game," Hyman said. "In some games, you feel like your work is giving more success. In other games, it's not, but you just have to continue to put your nose to the grindstone and eventually, the results are going to happen."

Campbell was critical despite the outpouring of offence from the Oilers, making 41 saves – including an incredible scorpion save on Gustav Nyquist's breakaway in the second frame.

"I just worked hard – the boys worked hard all week – and it feels good to get rewarded with a win," Campbell said.

The Oilers cap off their two-game road trip at Wells Fargo Arena on Thursday night against the Philadelphia Flyers.

FIRST PERIOD

There was a little bit of history and a little bit of magic, but it was an flat-out dominant first 20 minutes from the Blue & Orange.

Draisaitl made Oilers history when he opened the scoring at 11:49 of the first period by netting his 127th career power-play goal with a one-timer over the left shoulder of Nashville netminder Juuse Saros, passing Glenn Anderson (126) and Ryan Smyth (126) for the franchise record for power-play goals.

The German reached the milestone in only his 641st NHL game, when for reference, 'The Great One' Wayne Gretzky recorded 125 with the man advantage in 696 career games for Edmonton. Draisaitl continued his dominance over Nashville with his 22nd goal in his last 12 games against Nashville, while the Predators have only managed to score 28 goals in those head-to-head matchups.

The Oilers had scored only one even-strength goal through their first two games, but by the time they reached the end of the first period at Bridgestone Arena, that number had quadrupled.

"I felt pretty good today, and I thought our line was good on the forecheck and getting pucks back," Hyman said. "I think it was important to establish our five-on-five game, and I thought we did a good job with that."

Oilers players and coaches were fervent in their pursuit before Tuesday's game about generating more scoring opportunities in the dangerous areas around their opponent's net, and Zach Hyman proved their work was paying off when he worked himself open at the back post and cleaned up a puck that was put on net by Leon Draisaitl to give Edmonton a 2-0 lead past the opening period's halfway mark.

Hyman was part of a newly assembled second line with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Warren Foegele, who all got involved in the sequence leading to Edmonton's third goal. Hyman kept the puck below the goal line before Foegele found the loose puck and backhanded a pass to Nugent-Hopkins, who made no mistake for his second goal of the season.

"I think they were our best line tonight," Draisaitl said. "They drove the play and you need that obviously on certain nights. I liked all our lines. I think we all had our looks."

But leave it to McDavid to follow a performance like that.

The captain was clipped by a Predator in the neutral zone, sending him into a spin that he recovered from quickly from after a full rotation, before picking up a missed opportunity by a Nashville defender to relieve pressure.

McDavid pounced on the opportunity, putting his ensuing breakaway shot off the far post and in for a 4-0 Edmonton lead while spelling the end Saros' night after making only seven saves on 11 shots.

"I thought we found some goals in that [danger] area tonight and it's a credit to our guys," Head Coach Jay Woodcroft said. "I think we scored four even-strength goals tonight. They went to the hard areas to find success against a top goaltender in the National Hockey League in Saros."

SECOND PERIOD

Let's not forget about Jack Campbell.

The Oilers offence was firing on all cylinders, but so too was their shot-stopper in between the pipes with 14 solid saves in the first period to keep Edmonton well and truly in control.

"Thankfully they gave me some rubber early and got me into the game," Campbell said. "The guys did the rest from there."

Campbell came up with a remarkable stop early in the second period when Cody Ceci took a hooking penalty while trying to slow down Gustav Nyquist on a breakaway. On the delayed call, the Nashville forward tried to outwait the netminder, but Campbell stuck out the right pad for a scorpion-like save that kept the score at 4-1 after Tommy Novak scored on the power play for the Predators.

"I think the timely saves were super important in the first, and then in the second when it was 4-1, they were pushing to make 4-2," Hyman said. "There were a bunch of big saves to keep it there and let us work our way back."

It proved to be a pivotal save after Draisaitl and Foegele each added another goal to extend Edmonton's sizeable lead to 6-1, with No. 29's marker coming on the power play to add to his ever-growing franchise record for PPGs with his 128th on the man advantage.

THIRD PERIOD

The shots kept coming Campbell's way, but the netminder showed his composure to see out the 42-save victory and stay unbeaten in his career against the Predators (5-0-0).

"There were just a couple little tweaks that I thought individually I could make, and I thought it paid off tonight where just got a little bit more aggressive," Campbell said. "The guys did a great job battling hard in front and made some good team adjustments too, and it paid off on the scoreboard. It was great."

The 33-year-old stood up Philip Tomasino from point-blank range late in the game to add another terrific save to his highlight reel on Tuesday night, with his efforts being critical to Edmonton's first victory despite all the offence in front of him.

"If you're watching the game, it didn't feel like a 6-1 game out there, right?" Hyman said. "You check the box score and you're probably like, 'Oh yeah, they blew them out,' but no, it was definitely a lot tighter."

PARTING WORDS

Campbell on the evolution of his game over the offseason:

"Understanding the difference between me last year and this year and over the course of my career, I guess it was learning that there are great players in the league. Obviously I've always known that, but having the mindset that I'm going to be perfect and everything's going to go great every night is almost arrogant. Sometimes, they're going to make great plays and score on me, so I'm not okay with that, but just understanding sometimes you're not going to have a great night and that's what happened. I didn't let it get me down."

"That's kind of the recipe for the league – having a short memory... it's certainly something I've worked hard on this summer, not necessarily in a results-focused way, but just having the ability to process what happened and learn from it rather than dwell on it."

Campbell on the reception received by Ekholm after making his first return back to Bridgestone Arena:

"It's always difficult getting traded or signing somewhere else, especially where you really enjoy the city. I know it was a big day for him and a lot of nerves I'm sure just dealing with it from my past. So seeing him come out and play the game that he always plays for us, which is just a steady, big-time presence back on the back end but also jumping up and making the offensive plays he makes, every single guy in the room was playing hard for him tonight and glad we got him that win."

Hyman on his team's five-on-play tonight after scoring only once at even strength in their first two games:

"You can't win just relying on your special teams. I think we're fortunate that our power play can score a lot of goals, but especially, as we get near the end of the season, everything tightens up and you have to be able to figure out ways to score even-strength goals. A lot of that is going to the net, getting pucks off the forecheck and creating havoc, as the league is really tight."

Coach Woodcroft on his team's positive growth after starting 0-2-0 this season:

"No one scripted starting 0-2, but things happen. I think what you do is you try and maintain a level head; you do your work and you make sure you're addressing the areas that you've got to get better at. Sometimes not getting the result, but forcing yourself to stick to the process, is the best thing in the long run. For us, sometimes success or two points is a lagging indicator – meaning you've done a lot of really good things and then, eventually, you get rewarded. I thought it was a good sign for our team tonight.