EDMONTON — Ryan Spooner scored the winner six minutes into the third period as the Edmonton Oilers earned a 2-1 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday.
Ty Rattie forced a turnover behind the Vegas net and the puck popped in front to Spooner, who scored his first goal in eight games since coming to Edmonton in a trade with the New York Rangers.
Connor McDavid also scored for the Oilers (13-11-2), who extended their winning streak to three games. They are now 4-1-1 under new head coach Ken Hitchcock. Mikko Koskinen made 31 saves to improve to 8-2-1 in net.
William Karlsson responded for the Golden Knights (14-13-1), who saw a season-high five-game winning streak halted.
Vegas was all over Edmonton with an 8-2 edge in shots early, but it was Edmonton that struck first when McDavid turned on the jets for a partial breakaway and undressed Golden Knights goalie Marc-Andre Fleury for his 14th goal of the season just over six minutes into the first.
The Golden Knights tied it up 12 minutes into the second period when Karlsson picked up a rebound in front and tucked it past Koskinen for his fourth goal in his last four games.
Notes: The Oilers are in Dallas to face the Stars on Monday, while the Golden Knights return home to take on Washington on Tuesday… It was the second of four meetings this season between the two teams, with the Knights taking the first contest 6-3 in Edmonton on Nov. 18… Claimed on waivers by the Oilers from Carolina on Friday, forward Valentin Zykov was not in the lineup for Edmonton for Saturday’s game.
Shane Jones, The Canadian Press