POST-GAME: Rallying cries

EDMONTON, AB - Come together and correct course.
After the Oilers looked to have lost their footing in the first period after Zach Hyman gave them the lead 4:36 into the frame, it took a team meeting between periods in the dressing room to spark a heroic effort that would require every Oilers player to contribute in their own way.
"I think the mood in the room just needed to get corrected a little bit," Evander Kane said. "I thought the energy going out for the period was good and it carried over, so it was a good chat."
Edmonton shot out to an early lead in the game, but the remaining 15-minutes-and-change of the first period made for an intermission of introspection and internal discussions from the Oilers players about how they could correct some mistakes and how they could execute a game plan for a comeback.
Plenty of interested parties had their say. "Everybody (talked)," Kane added.
What the players answered with, no debate required, was their best period of the season and an inspired team response that resulted in two valuable points and a 6-3 victory that evened Edmonton's record at 3-3-0 in the sixth game of an important six-game homestand to open the 2022-23 season.The Oilers received goals from six different players, along with four multi-point nights and 16-of-18 skaters registering a shot.
"That's on the players," Head Coach Jay Woodcroft said of the intermission discussion. "The players were the ones who decided to get it together a little bit. There were some things in the first period that we wanted to clean up as a team, but the players are the ones that go out and do that.
"That's full credit and full marks to our players for playing probably our best period of the year in the second period. That set us up for success tonight, so full marks to our guys."

It didn't start how they would've wanted in the middle frame, however, after Bryan Rust cashed in a greasy goal from behind the net by banking it off Jack Campbell's right pad and in to make it a two-goal contest two minutes into the second period.
Edmonton pressed on with its resolve, but a less-than-ideal scenario helped create an extra rallying cry that provided the spark needed to cue the comeback.
Connor McDavid dished a feed to Kailer Yamamoto on a 2-on-1, but the captain was taken down by former Oilers defenceman Jeff Petry before barrelling hard into the right post as Rogers Place fell silent with McDavid down on the ice.
"I sensed something in the building," Woodcroft recalled. "I thought there was a collective holding of everyone's breath. Obviously, when your captain goes into the net hard like that, you want to make sure that he's okay first, and then once you saw him skate off and go into the dressing room, I felt better about it."
McDavid glided off on his own power and exited the bench to the dressing room, but the Oilers now had an important powerplay and a call to action to rally around. He would, fortunately, return to the game later in the period, but the Oilers supporting cast had already put the game on its back.
"Then, I thought our powerplay responded," Woodcroft said after McDavid's crash.

It took a stroke of luck for Tyson Barrie's point shot on the man advantage to deflect off two Pittsburgh skates and settle into the back of the net, but Woodcroft wasn't about to discount the set-up that led to the 3-2 goal and a route back into the game for Edmonton.
"There was some good fortune on that goal, but there was some good stuff that happened on it," he said. "From there we just started to roll, so I think that kind of sequence of events led to that period that you saw."
Still without their captain, Kailer Yamamoto joined a line with Evander Kane and Leon Draisaitl. When McDavid came back to the bench, Coach Woodcroft decided to keep the assembled trio together and re-deploy the captain with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Zach Hyman.
"The impetus was after that power-play goal, and it was out of necessity," Woodcroft said of the line shuffle. "It was just a gut feel, but I liked what I saw in the shift that they played together. When Connor came back and we talked it over with our coaches, we just felt it was best to keep that line together and we thought they did a good job on Crosby's line the rest of the night. Full marks to those three because they played a heck of a game."
For the rest of the second period, the Oilers looked unbeatable by holding the Penguins shotless over the 15:50 of the frame and recording a franchise-record 26 shots on goal - eight of them off the stick of Kane.

The 31-year-old from Vancouver, BC finished off a quick give-and-go passing play with Draisaitl to tie the game 3-3 before reversing roles with the German after Nugent-Hopkins' third of the season at 18:28 of the period put the Oilers a goal up.
You could say Kane was feeling it, and he'd tell you that he expected more.
"Not really, because I only had one goal," Kane said with some sarcasm. "But yes, I thought we did a lot of good things to create opportunities. It was a big period for this homestand and I thought we did a good job executing when we had to.
"I thought a big reason was that we got pucks to the net. It breaks down their coverage, it creates confusion in their d-zone, and we got a lot of seconds and thirds off that. That's something we need to continue to do.
At the blueline with just 22 seconds to go in the middle frame, Kane touched it back to Draisaitl execute a pin-point deke on the Penguins defender and bury a highlight-reel goal on netminder Tristan Jarry to send the Oilers into the break up 5-3 after a second period to remember.

Edmonton carried its momentum over into the third period where they locked down the Penguins defensively and continued getting contributions from the rest of the lineup.
Derek Ryan darted up the ice with determination with less than three-and-a-half minutes left and delivered the perfect drop pass to Ryan McLeod, who finished the chance into the bottom-left corner as Devin Shore drove the net to all but seal the Oilers a big victory and keep his strong start to the season going with his third goal in six games.
"You know what I would say about Ryan (McLeod)? Most people don't realize this, but this guy works. And he works to rehearse the moments that he finds himself in games," Woodcroft said. "So he's working to set himself up for success. When that opportunity comes, he's like Evander. I don't know what his final shots on net were or attempts were, but he had numerous good chances earlier in the game and then he converted that one in the third period.
"How about that play by Derek Ryan having the poise to find McLeod the way he did and the way Shore drove the net? I thought they were really good for us and I was happy to see that line rewarded with a goal."

It came from a challenging stretch, but some strong internal discussions and their captain's crash into the net led to an immediate turnaround that means the Oilers head out on their first road trip 3-3-0 instead of 2-4-0 -- a small difference at this early juncture of the year, but Monday was another win against good opposition that will hopefully spark even more from the Blue & Orange in the games to come.
The Oilers have the chance to build on it at the home of the Blues on Wednesday night that they couldn't break through against this past Saturday afternoon at Rogers Place.
"I thought there were good moments, and then moments that are going to make us better going forward," Woodcroft said. "The other thing I would say is the quality of competition that has rolled through here. That was our third undefeated team in a row that we just saw on home ice, so that's a credit to the quality of competition that were seeing.
"But in the end, we're just worried about us. We're worried about getting better every day."