Oilers defeat Sharks despite Celebrini goal in return
McDavid, Podkolzin extend point streaks to five for Edmonton, which wins fourth straight
By Max Miller
NHL.com Independent Correspondent
SAN JOSE -- Connor McDavid and Vasily Podkolzin extended their season-opening point streaks to five games for the Edmonton Oilers in their fourth straight win, 3-1 against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center on Saturday.
Podkolzin, Mattias Ekholm and Alex Formenton scored, and McDavid had an assist for the Oilers (4-0-1), who have a five-game point streak to start the season. Tristan Jarry made 19 saves.
"I just liked that we stayed patient,” Edmonton coach Mike Babcock said. “We stuck with the plan. Their coach did a real good job and their guys were organized. I thought we had to do it the hard way."
Macklin Celebrini scored in his return after missing two games due to a lower-body injury, and Yaroslav Askarov made 17 saves for the Sharks (3-2-0).
"I didn't have any major issues with our start,” San Jose coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “I thought maybe could have created a little bit more, but I didn't mind our start. We made one mistake and it was in the back of our net."
Ekholm put the Oilers up 1-0 at 12:37 of the first period. Isaac Howard worked the puck off the right boards and passed to Ekholm at the point, and his slap shot beat a screened Askarov over the glove.
Podkolzin extended the lead to 2-0 at 3:13 of the third period. McDavid sped down the left wing and fed Podkolzin at the top of the slot, where his one-timer beat Askarov to the glove side.
"It's a super privilege and unique situation for every player,” Podkolzin said. “(McDavid and Leon Draisaitl) make me better every day and I am so grateful for that."
McDavid has 13 points (three goals, 10 assists) in his point streak, and Podkolzin has seven points (five goals, two assists) during his run.
Formenton then made it 3-0 at 5:40 with his first goal for Edmonton. He took a feed from Mathieu Joseph on the rush, moved in on Askarov and backhanded a shot over the goalie’s left pad.
"I think we played a simple game,” Jarry said. “I think when things weren't going our way, or they were clogging the middle, we weren't getting frustrated with it and it shows a lot of character."
Celebrini cut it to 3-1 at 11:19 with his first goal of the season. After Celebrini won the puck along the left wall, Michael Misa pushed it to him at the top of the left face-off circle, and the center scored with a wrist shot from the dot.
Sharks defenseman Darnell Nurse faced the Oilers for the first time since they traded him to San Jose on July 1 after he played his first 12 NHL seasons for Edmonton. He had five shots on goal and was minus-1 in 21:56 of ice time.
“It was odd. Never been through that before, but preparation is no different,” Nurse said. “Just go out there and play. It was a fun game to play in. Want a different result.”
NOTES: The Oilers have opened a season on a five-game point streak for the sixth time in franchise history and first since 2021-22 (5-0-0). Their longest stretch was set in 1984-85 (12-0-3 in 15 games). … Edmonton defenseman Jake Walman was scratched with an upper-body injury. … The Oilers' Evan Bouchard had an assist to give him 12 points (six goals, six assists) this season. He became the third defenseman in NHL history to record at least a dozen points through his first five games of a season, joining Harry Cameron (15 points; nine goals, six assists in 1917-18) and Morgan Rielly (12 points; three goals, nine assists in 2018-19). … Filip Hallander had one shot on goal and played 14:11 in his Edmonton debut after the forward was traded from the Pittsburgh Penguins for defenseman Spencer Stastney on Wednesday.
