National Hockey League
Edmonton 5, NY Islanders 2
When: 7:00 PM ET, Tuesday, October 8, 2019
Where: Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, New York
Referees: Trevor Hanson, Steve Kozari
Linesmen: Ryan Daisy, Ryan Gibbons
Attendance: 10985

James Neal collected a natural hat trick in a span of fewer than nine minutes bridging the first and second periods and finished with a career-high four goals Tuesday night as the visiting Edmonton Oilers cruised to a 5-2 win over the New York Islanders in Uniondale, N.Y.

Zack Kassian also scored for the Oilers, who are 3-0-0 for the first time since the 2008-09 season. Goalie Mikko Koskinen made 25 saves in his season debut.

Anthony Beauvillier and Matt Martin scored for the Islanders, who lost two of three on a season-opening three-game homestand. Starting goalie Semyon Varlamov was chased after giving up four goals on 19 shots. Thomas Greiss made seven saves in relief.

Neal became the third Oilers player this century to collect four goals in a game and the first since teammate Connor McDavid did it against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Feb. 5, 2018.

The four-goal game was the first against the Islanders since Patrik Elias scored four times for the New Jersey Devils on March 30, 2003.

Beauvillier gave the Islanders a short-lived lead by scoring a breakaway short-handed goal with 5:46 left in the first.

Neal began and finished the sequence that ended with his first goal. After intercepting a Devon Toews pass along the boards behind the Islanders' net, Neal dished to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who briefly had the puck swiped from him by Beauvillier. But Neal swooped in, grabbed the puck back and fired a shot past Varlamov from the left faceoff circle.

Neal completed his natural hat trick with two power play goals. He gave the Oilers the lead for good just 96 seconds later, when he was stationed to the left of the net and tucked home a pass from McDavid.

Neal was on the other side of the net 6:31 into the second, when he took a pass from Leon Draisaitl and flicked it past Varlamov.

Kassian chased Varlamov just 2:15 later.

Neal scored his fourth goal from the front of the left faceoff circle 6:51 into the third. Martin pulled the Islanders within 5-2 with 6:28 left.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Edmonton   NY Islanders
James Neal 4 Points Anthony Beauvillier 1
James Neal 4 Goals Anthony Beauvillier 1
Connor McDavid 3 Assists Casey Cizikas 1
James Neal 2 Power Play Goals N/A
N/A Short Handed Goals Anthony Beauvillier 1
Mikko Koskinen .926 Save Percentage Thomas Greiss .875
Mikko Koskinen 25 Saves Semyon Varlamov 15
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Edmonton 27 5 2-5 2-2 4 21
NY Islanders 27 2 0-2 3-5 10 29
Upcoming Games
  • NY Islanders will play their next game on the road against Carolina. The Islanders have a W/L % of .000 after a win and 1.000 after a loss.
  • Edmonton will play their next game on the road against New Jersey. The Oilers have a W/L % of 1.000 after a win and 1.000 after a loss.