San Jose Sharks goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen makes the stop on Edmonton Oilers left wing Warren Foegele, back left, as Sharks defenceman Henry Thrun defends during the second period. The Oilers won 5-0 on Dec. 28, 2023, in San Jose, Calif.The Associated Press
Zach Hyman, Evan Bouchard and Ryan McLeod each had a goal and an assist in the first period, and the Edmonton Oilers beat the San Jose Sharks 5-0 on Thursday night.
Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins also scored for Edmonton in the opener of a three-game California trip. Stuart Skinner made 25 saves in his second shutout of the season and No. 4 for his career.
The Oilers improved to 11-3-0 in their last 14 games, rebounding from a rough start to the season.
Skinner said the four-goal first period by his team gave him “a lot of confidence.”
“I think we were rolling around for a good five minutes straight in their end, and that’s a huge credit to the guys being ready off the bat,” Skinner said.
Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said Skinner came up with some really good saves.
“We gave up a lot of shot attempts from the slot, more than we have probably in the last dozen games,” Knoblauch said.
San Jose dropped its seventh straight game. It’s the longest skid for the Sharks since they lost their first 11 games of the season.
San Jose has allowed four or more goals in each of its last six games. Sharks goaltender Magnus Chrona played one period in his first NHL start, making eight saves on 12 shots.
“There were some good things that went on tonight, but we didn’t score a goal and we gave up five,” Sharks coach David Quinn said. “You can’t be giving up five goals. Their goalie played well. And we had some chances, it wasn’t like it was a territorial-dominated game by them. They just took advantage of our lapses and we weren’t able to take advantage of theirs.”
The Oilers jumped in front 1 minute into the game. McLeod took a drop pass from Hyman and buried a wrist shot from the left circle for his fourth goal in his last four shots.
Edmonton took a 2-0 lead midway through the first when Connor McDavid connected with Hyman right in front of the net for a tap-in goal. It was Hyman’s team-leading 20th goal of the season.
Bouchard converted a slap shot from the left point at 14:55, and Draisaitl scored at 17:32 off an assist by Warren Foegele.
“Especially coming off a break, it’s easy to wade yourself into the game and not get out to the start that you want,” defenceman Darnell Nurse said. “But for us to be able to come out here and put up four in the first period, I think it really set the tone for the game.”
Chrona was promoted from the minors because Mackenzie Blackwood was out with an illness for the second straight game. He got the start after Kaapo Kahkonen played Wednesday night in a 5-1 loss in Los Angeles. But Kahkonen had to come on in relief following the first period.
“We left him out to dry,” Sharks forward Tomas Hertl said. “It was his first NHL (start) and I felt really bad for him. We didn’t help him.”
Up next
Oilers: Visit Los Angeles on Saturday night.
Sharks: Visit Colorado on Sunday night.