Connor McDavid scored his first goal of the season and Brett Kulak scored twice, leading the Edmonton Oilers to a 4-2 win over the host Nashville Predators on Thursday night.
Jeff Skinner also scored for the Oilers, who have won back-to-back games after dropping their first three. Calvin Pickard made 25 saves for his first win of the season and first career win over the Predators.
Edmonton improved to 12-1-2 in the last 15 meetings against the Predators — 6-0-2 in eight trips to Nashville.
Filip Forsberg and Jonathan Marchessault scored for Nashville, while Juuse Saros stopped 32 shots. The Predators have lost four straight to open the season.
Kulak added his second goal of the night into an empty net with 35 seconds left.
Edmonton led 3-2 through 40 minutes.
The Oilers took a 2-1 lead midway through the second period as Skinner put home a loose puck of Darnell Nurse’s shot for his second goal of the season.
Marchessault tied it 2-2 on a power play at 17:45, redirecting Roman Josi’s feed past Pickard for his first goal as a member of the Predators. Saros picked up the secondary assist – his first of the season and eighth of his career.
Edmonton responded 44 seconds later as McDavid went bar down on Saros in tight for his first goal of the season at 18:29. The Oilers’ superstar captain has scored at least one point in 14 straight games against the Predators.
The Oilers outshot the Predators 8-0 through the midway mark of the first period, but Nashville scored first.
Forsberg opened the scoring at 11:46, tipping Josi’s point shot past Pickard for his second goal of the season. Forsberg has 13 goals and 12 assists in 26 career games against the Oilers.
Kulak tied it 1-1 at 17:39 of the first, one-timing a Mattias Janmark feed past Saros from the point for his first of the season.
Thursday was the first of three meetings. The Oilers again travel to Nashville on Oct. 31 before the teams conclude the season series at Edmonton on Nov. 14.
–Field Level Media
