GAME RECAP: Oilers 3, Bruins 1

BOSTON, MA – How you like them apples?

Rookie Quinn Hutson scored his first career NHL goal, while forwards Ryan Nugent-Hopkins & Connor McDavid each posted a goal and an assist for the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night in a 3-1 victory over the Boston Bruins at TD Garden for back-to-back wins.

Nugent-Hopkins' power-play tally 6:22 into the first period opened the scoring for the Oilers before the Bruins answered back on the man advantage to tie things up before the intermission, but Hutson's first NHL goal with less than six minutes left in the middle frame would end up being the game-winner.

"I've just been playing hard, moving my feet and playing a simple game," Hutson said. "It's been going well for me."

Hutson put away the rebound in front of netminder Jeremy Swayman that came off the shot from Max Jones, picking up his first NHL goal that made it 2-1 for the Oilers before McDavid scored on a short-handed breakaway early in the third to cap off the scoring in Edmonton's sixth straight win at the Garden.

"Anytime you get your first is pretty special," Hyman said. "I think it's extra special for him to be in Boston. He's got lots of history here, obviously going to school here, and probably played in this rink before. So you always remember your first and a big one for us with the game-winner. I thought he was great."

McDavid extended his incredible point streak to nine games, tallying 10 goals and 12 assists, while Nugent-Hopkins now has three goals and eight assists over his last 10 games since returning from a nine-game injury absence on Nov. 29.

Goaltender Tristan Jarry picked up his third straight victory for the Oilers but had to leave the game during the second period due to injury after making 12 saves on 13 shots, giving way to Calvin Pickard to see out the win by stopping all 12 shots he faced.

The Oilers will wrap up their five-game road trip at Xcel Energy Center on Saturday afternoon against the Minnesota Wild.

POWERING UP IN BEANTOWN

The power play for the Oilers has been ‘Bruin’ in recent games, and Thursday night was no different after their man advantage gave them the lead in the first period before Boston was able to respond in kind 2:49 later to level the score at 1-1 through 20 minutes at TD Garden.

Making his return to Boston for the first time as an Oiler, Trent Frederic received a big ovation from Bruins fans for his eight seasons of service with the Black & Yellow before they turned to boos a few minutes later when Mark Kastelic tripped up the 27-year-old in the neutral zone for the game’s first penalty with under seven minutes left in the first period.

On the ensuing man advantage, McDavid had the puck below the Bruins’ goal line and waited for Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to attack the far post before making a cross-crease pass onto the tape of the longest-tenured Oiler to chip it over Jeremy Swayman for the 1-0 lead at 6:22 of the frame.

Nugent-Hopkins notched his eighth goal of the season and fourth on the power play for his 10th point (3G, 7A) over 10 games since returning from a nine-game injury absence. McDavid's primary assist extended the captain's point streak to eight games, and the secondary helper for Leon Draisaitl was the German's 1,004th career point after celebrating hitting the century mark for points on Tuesday in a 6-4 win over Pittsburgh.

Thanks to the PPG on their first opportunity and going 1-for-4 on Thursday, the Oilers improved to a League-best 13-for-32 with the man advantage since Nov. 29 – a stretch of 10 games that's seen them retake top spot in the NHL.

"When things are going well, you want to make sure they continue to go well," Hyman said. "Obviously, we have a lot of different looks we can go to, and it's nice when we're getting the opportunities too. We gotta be able to draw penalties, and I thought we did a good job of that tonight."

But just as it happened for the Oilers, the Bruins returned the favour just under three minutes later, turning a Darnell Nurse tripping call on Marat Khusnutdinov into a power-play equalizer for Pavel Zacha after Elias Lindholm put him through off the rush to beat Tristan Jarry with a backhand finish.

Through 20 minutes, it was all square at 1-1 between the Oilers & Bruins, with the hosts leading 7-5 in shots.

HUTSON PUTS HOME FIRST NHL GOAL

You always remember your first in the Show.

In the city where he played three seasons for the NCAA's Boston University Terriers, and the building where he helped them win the 2025 Beanpot Championship, Quinn Hutson gave the Oilers a 2-1 lead with his first career NHL goal to become the fifth Oiler this season to notch his first League tally.

"It was pretty cool," he said post-game. "I've had some cool goals in this rink, but that was definitely the coolest, so that was great."

Forward Max Jones, also making his return to Boston for the first time after being involved in last year’s trade with the Bruins, was buzzing on the fourth line alongside Hutson and Frederic with two shots before recording the primary helper on his linemate’s first NHL tuck during the middle frame.

"Probably the highlight of tonight was Hutson getting his first goal while playing fourth-line minutes," Knoblauch said. "Jones didn't play very much, but they played really well."

Jones had an open look coming out from below the Bruins’ goal line four minutes in that was stopped, but his near-identical chance 10 minutes later was corralled on the rebound by Hutson before the 23-year-old slid it past Swayman despite the netminder getting a piece of it with his stick.

"Just hard on the forecheck, it bounced out, and I went to the net," Hutson said. "I thought he got a stick on it, and I watched it barely go in, so it was nice to see it go."

Hutson became the 426th different player in franchise history to score a goal, joining Matt Savoie, David Tomasek, Noah Philp, Isaac Howard and Connor Clattenburg as players who’ve scored their first NHL goals this season for the Oilers.

Before being called up from the Bakersfield Condors last week, the North Barrington, IL product was engulfed in a prolific scoring run in the AHL with 16 goals and 12 assists in 24 games, leading all rookies in goals and points while being only three points off the League lead.

"It's obviously harder," he said. "You're just thinking about your next shift. I think when I go out there, I'm just thinking that when I get a chance, I gotta shoot it. With limited minutes, that next shot's gotta go in."

Over 117 games with Boston University from 2022-25, Hutson had 114 points (56G, 58A) before signing a two-year entry-level contract with the Oilers on April 14, 2025 upon the conclusion of his NCAA career and posting 50 points (23G, 27A) in 38 games.

"I think my goal for a long time was college hockey, and then when I got there, I just figured that I could go farther from there," he said. "I never thought this would ever happen, but it's super cool.

However, the Oilers were dealt a blow before the intermission when Tristan Jarry exited the game with an injury sustained earlier on a cross-crease pass, being replaced by Calvin Pickard for the remainder of the contest.

McDAVID MAGIC A MAN DOWN

Shorthanded early in the final frame? No problem for Captain Connor.

The Bruins had the chance to equalize early in the third period when Evan Bouchard was called for hooking David Pastrnak only 30 seconds into the stanza. But instead, the puck ended up in the back of their own net after McDavid notched his 21st of the season on a shorthanded breakaway.

After the puck bounced perilously on the top of Pickard's net on the penalty kill, it ended up in the possession of Nugent-Hopkins along the boards, who showed great patience waiting for a lane to open up between the Bruins' defencemen to find a streaking McDavid through the middle for a breakaway that No. 97 put away on the backhand against Swayman for the 3-1 lead with 18:19 remaining in regulation.

With McDavid's tally, the Oilers had a well-rounded night of scoring with a power-play goal, one at even strength and another shorthanded.

"It was nice to contribute in every way," Knoblauch said. "Getting the power-play goal, that's the usual. They're pretty good at doing that. The shorthanded goal, McDavid makes a nice play to get the puck in the net, but it starts with Nuge and the patience on the pass to set that up."

The Oilers weren't able to grow their lead over the next 18-plus minutes across two more power plays, but their penalty kill continued to excel on Thursday with two vital kills and Pickard making three saves on their last kill with under six minutes left in regulation, finishing the night with 12 saves in relief.

"I thought we were pretty air-tight defensively," Knoblauch said. "I didn't think we gave up very much early in the game, and then as soon as he went in, that's when the chances started rolling in and he had to make some big saves – three big-time saves late in the second and a couple more in the third, especially on the penalty kill."

The Bruins pulled their goalie, but the Oilers were doing their job by shutting the Bruins down, before a penalty to Elias Lindholm in the last minute ruined any late chance of a comeback as time expired on a 3-1 victory for the Blue & Orange.

"That was huge," Knoblauch said. "Obviously, we gave up the first one, but then after that, we made some nice kills, especially late in the game. We've seen that a lot lately, where we've needed a big kill in the third period, and they were able to deliver."

The five-game road trip for Edmonton ends on Saturday afternoon with another tough matchup against the Central Division's Minnesota Wild.