Bo Horvat (hat trick), the Isles dominate the Oilers for their first victory of the season
Bo Horvat scored his second career hat trick Thursday night as the New York Islanders ended their first three-game losing streak by beating the Edmonton Oilers 4-2 in Elmont, NY.
The Islanders responded immediately after Oilers center Trent Frederic took a high-sticking penalty with 4:53 left and the score was tied 2-2. Horvat won a faceoff with Adam Henrique and moved into the slot, where he received a pass from Mathew Barzal and beat Stuart Skinner.
Horvat scored an empty-netter with 8.1 seconds remaining to complete his first hat trick since October 22, 2019.
Barzal also scored for the Islanders, who avoided the first 0-4-0 start in franchise history. David Rittich made 31 saves in his debut in New York.
Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored for the Oilers, who fell to 1-1-0 on a five-game Eastern Conference road trip. Goalkeeper Stuart Skinner recorded 21 saves.
The Islanders scored for the first time this season with 3:37 left in the first period, when Barzal stole the puck from Evan Bouchard in the neutral zone, ran down the left side of the ice and fired a puck over Skinner’s glove shoulder.
Scott Mayfield was whistled for tripping 57 seconds later to set up the power play that led to Draisaitl’s goal with 2:40 left. David Tomasek collected the puck after a faceoff deep in the Islanders zone and passed it to Draisaitl, who served McDavid before rushing to the net. McDavid, on the goal line, fed Draisaitl, who fired a shot over Rittich’s stick.
The Oilers took the lead shortly before the midpoint of the second. Nugent-Hopkins, on the edge of the neutral zone, took a pass from Ty Emberson, got around Jean-Gabriel Pageau and sent a shot past Rittich’s glove at 8:53.
Pageau helped Horvat score the shorthanded goal just over nine minutes later. After Rittich stopped shots from Draisaitl and McDavid, Pageau sent a backhand pass to Horvat, who took a few steps on Bouchard before beating Skinner stickside with 2:04 remaining for his first goal of the season.
–Field level media
