Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Ales Hemsky scored two goals and the Edmonton Oilers snapped a three-game losing streak with a 3-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night.
Jordan Eberle also scored and Taylor Hall had a pair of assists for the Oilers, who remain in second to last place in the NHL despite a 6-2-2 record in their past 10 games.
Jason Spezza and Erik Karlsson scored for the Senators, who have lost three of their past four games in the midst of trying to move up into a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Ottawa opened the scoring at 5:22 of the first. Milan Michalek sent a backhand pass from behind the net through a few bodies in front to Spezza, who beat Edmonton goalie Ben Scrivens with a quick shot for his 16th of the season.
Edmonton tied the game at 14:30 as Nail Yakupov hit Hemsky with a long power-play pass. Hemsky drove into the Senators zone before cutting in on net and beating Ottawa goalie Craig Anderson with a backhand deke.
It was Hemsky's first goal since Jan. 12 in what may have been his last game in Edmonton after 11 seasons, if persistent trade deadline rumors have any validity.
Edmonton had a great opportunity to take the lead seven minutes into the second period as Hall picked off a Colin Greening pass and went in alone, beating Anderson with a high shot but ringing the puck off the crossbar.
Hemsky wasn't done yet. With 11 minutes left in the middle period, Sam Gagner hit Hemsky with a drop pass and he picked the corner with a shot for his ninth of the season while Hall screened Anderson in front of the net.
Scrivens kept it 2-1 with four minutes left in the second as he came across quickly to stop Bobby Ryan on an attempt to deflect a shot from in tight.
Edmonton made it 3-1 at 4:26 of the third as a Boyd Gordon shot deflected to Eberle at the side of the net and he had an easy tap-in for his 20th of the season.
Right after Edmonton's Nick Schultz fished a puck out of harm's way from behind Scrivens, the Senators made it a one-goal game with just under three minutes left to play. Karlsson walked around a pair of defenders and slipped a shot under the Oilers goalie's arm.
Ottawa pulled Anderson late, but couldn't get the equalizer.
The Senators play the third game of a four-game road trip in Calgary on Wednesday. The Oilers next play host to the New York Islanders on Thursday.
Notes: Both teams were quite active on the day before Wednesday's NHL trade deadline. Edmonton made a couple of moves involving goalies as they shipped Ilya Bryzgalov to the Minnesota Wild for a fourth-round pick and then acquired goalie Viktor Fasth from the Anaheim Ducks for third- and fifth-round draft picks. As a result the Oilers had to make a call out to the University of Alberta Golden Bears to utilize their goalie, Sherwood Park's Kurtis Mucha, as a backup. There was a social media outcry before the game urging the Oilers to give the one-game backup opportunity to Team Canada's women's Olympic two-time gold medalist Shannon Szabados. ... The Senators also made a trade on Tuesday, sending left winger Jeff Costello to Vancouver in exchange for defenseman Patrick Mullen ... Both teams also placed players on the waiver wire, as the Senators made forward Cory Conacher and defenseman Joe Corvo available and Edmonton waived defenseman Corey Potter ... It was the second and final meeting between the two teams, with Edmonton winning the first matchup 3-1 in Ottawa on Oct. 19. ... Nail Yakupov returned to the lineup after missing one game with a foot injury.
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
