Ben Scrivens made 29 saves in his seventh career shutout as the Edmonton Oilers beat the Eastern Conference-leading Montreal Canadiens 3-0 on Monday.
Benoit Pouliot had a goal and an assist, while Nail Yakupov and Taylor Hall also scored for the Oilers, who have won four straight after an 0-4-1 start — the worst in the club’s history.
Dustin Tokarski stopped 16 of 18 shots for the Canadiens, who had their four-game winning streak ended. Montreal’s 7-1-0 start was the Canadiens best start since 1961-1962.
Photo: USA Today
In Monday’s other game, Anthony Duclair scored his first NHL goal with 3 minutes, 48 seconds remaining, and Mats Zuccarello put the Rangers ahead 37 seconds later as New York stormed back from a three-goal deficit by scoring five times in the third period to stun the Minnesota Wild 5-4.
In Edmonton, Montreal came close to starting the scoring in an up-tempo first period. With five minutes remaining, the Canadiens had a flurry of shots before Max Pacioretty fired one into the net from the high slot. However, the goal was disallowed when it was determined Brendan Gallagher interfered with Scrivens after bowling him over in the crease seconds earlier.
Edmonton went up 1-0 with 18 seconds left in the first. Mark Arcobello raced to a loose puck to create a two-on-one and fed a nice pass to Pouliot, who deked and beat Tokarski with a backhand for his first goal with the Oilers.
Edmonton forward Matt Hendricks left the game late in the first after being run headfirst into the boards by Montreal defenseman P.K. Subban, but returned early in the second period.
Yakupov gave the Oilers a two-goal lead six-and-a-half minutes into the second period after a shot came off the boards to Pouliot at the side of the net. He sent it through the crease to Yakupov, who scored his second of the season.
The Canadiens pulled Tokarski for an extra skater with three minutes left, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins sprung Hall for an empty-net goal.
In New York, the Wild appeared to be in complete control when they carried a 3-0 lead into the third and held a 24-8 shots advantage, but Darcy Kuemper — who had allowed only four goals this season — was rocked for five in less than a period.
Rangers defenseman Kevin Klein started the comeback at 2:52 and Rick Nash made it 3-2 at 4:48, but Jason Zucker restored the Wild’s two-goal lead 47 seconds later.
New York was still undeterred, and Derick Brassard made it a one-goal game again at 7:54. The 19-year-old Duclair, playing his seventh NHL game, got the Rangers back within a goal, setting up Zuccarello’s winner.
Nate Prosser, Matt Cooke and Jason Pominville scored second-period goals for the Wild (4-3), who held a 30-20 shots advantage, but had their two-game streak ended.
“It was a pretty crazy game, but in the end you want to be on the good side of those,” Rangers captain Ryan McDonagh said.
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