Zack Kassian and Milan Lucic each scored twice -- doubling their goal totals for the season -- as the host Edmonton Oilers feasted on the slumping Buffalo Sabres with a 7-2 victory Monday night.
Goalie Mikko Koskinen made 41 saves, and collected an assist, in the victory, Edmonton's second in three games. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Connor McDavid each had a goal and an assist for the Oilers, who also got a goal from Leon Draisaitl.
Casey Mittelstadt and Evan Rodrigues notched the goals for the Sabres, who lost their third in a row.
The goals came shockingly fast and furious right from the drop of the puck.
Mittelstadt opened the scoring on the game's first shot, exactly 60 seconds after the opening faceoff, by redirecting Conor Sheary's sharp-angled shot.
Not to be outdone, Kassian scored the first of his goals with Edmonton's first shot, a long offering from beyond the left circle at the 2:33 mark to snap a 16-game goal drought.
Nugent-Hopkins tallied with Edmonton's next puck on net, 50 seconds later, redirecting a bouncing point shot for his 15th goal of the year, and Kassian's second of the night made it a 3-1 lead at 4:28 of the crazy first period. It was Kassian's fourth goal of the season.
Rodrigues gave the Sabres a slight boost by pouncing on a loose puck in the slot and burying a shot off the post at 8:57 of the first period, but any comeback hopes were quashed shortly after the first intermission.
McDavid netted his 28th goal of the season just 24 seconds into the second period, tallying on a breakaway, and then Lucic made it a 5-2 game at 4:49 of the middle frame when he picked off a bad pass and ripped a long shot for his third goal of the season.
Lucic and Draisaitl added third-period goals for the Oilers, who boasted five different players -- Tobias Rieder, Lucic, Kassian, Nugent-Hopkins and McDavid -- with two-point games.
Buffalo starting goalie Carter Hutton was pulled after Edmonton's fifth goal, having made only seven saves. Linus Ullmark stopped 11 of 13 shots for the Sabres, who are 3-8-1 in their past 12 games.
--Field Level Media
Buffalo | Edmonton | |
Casey Mittelstadt 1 | Points | Zack Kassian 2 |
Casey Mittelstadt 1 | Goals | Zack Kassian 2 |
Rasmus Dahlin 1 | Assists | Tobias Rieder 2 |
N/A | Power Play Goals | Leon Draisaitl 1 |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Linus Ullmark .846 | Save Percentage | Mikko Koskinen .953 |
Linus Ullmark 11 | Saves | Mikko Koskinen 41 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Buffalo | 43 | 2 | 0-4 | 0-1 | 2 | 28 |
Edmonton | 25 | 7 | 1-1 | 4-4 | 8 | 36 |