Hurricanes withstand Oilers rally for 40th win of season

EDMONTON -- Jackson Blake scored twice in the third period, and K'Andre Miller had three assists for the Carolina Hurricanes in a 6-3 win against the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Place on Friday.

Nikolaj Ehlers had a goal and an assist, and his linemates, Jordan Staal and Jordan Martinook, also scored for the Hurricanes (40-16-6), who have won seven of eight and are 12-1-2 in their past 15 games. Frederik Andersen made 13 saves.

“They’re not always getting on the score sheet, although they have lately. They’re our leaders, right?” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said of the third line. “Especially ‘Jordo’ and ‘Marty’ have been here for a long time, and they do it right. Everybody kind of follows in, and [Ehlers has] been just a great addition. Today is Trade Deadline day, and he was a big addition in the summer. That was a big add for our group, and he’s playing really well.”

Zach Hyman scored twice for the Oilers (30-25-8), who had won two of three. Tristan Jarry made 26 saves.

“I think you just have to keep working,” Jarry said. “At the end of the night, it’s still five against, and that’s the way you have to look at it and you have to be better. It’s a challenging league and it’s a humbling league, and every night you can’t take it for granted."

Hyman put Edmonton ahead 1-0 at 10:43 of the first period. He took a stretch pass from Connor McDavid and made a move to his backhand before lifting the puck over Andersen’s blocker on a breakaway.

“It was a tough one, obviously. We were chasing it,” Hyman said. “After our first one they responded with two pretty quickly after that.

“There were times in the game where we pushed and came back and played well. They’re a good team, obviously. It was a close game. We were right there."

Shayne Gostisbehere tied it 1-1 just 37 seconds later, scoring with a one-timer from the top of the right circle past a sprawling Jarry, who got caught up with the skates of Jake Walman.

Gostisbehere left the game later in the period with an undisclosed injury.

“I don’t really have [an update],” Brind’Amour said. “It’s obviously not good. He’s kind of been dealing with stuff I feel like all year. Just when he kind of gets rolling he keeps getting nicked up. So, I don’t really have an update at this time.

“Those guys really dug in. We lose ‘Ghost’ and we’re down to five (defensemen) and are really playing four for the most part. It’s a lot to ask against that team, and I thought they did just a great job. They didn’t have a lot of chances and didn’t have a ton of shots, so we were doing a pretty good job.”

Ehlers scored 46 seconds after Gostisbehere to put Carolina in front 2-1 at 12:06. Following a turnover by the Oilers, Ehlers got the puck at the right point and had his wrist shot redirect glove side off the stick of Colton Dach.

Martinook extended the lead to 3-1 at 1:37 of the second period, tucking his own rebound inside the right post after flubbing on his initial chance. The play started with Ehlers, who sent Martinook a backhand pass while skating the other way behind the net.

Vasily Podkolzin made it 3-2 at 3:20. He roofed a shot over Andersen's right shoulder from a sharp angle below the left circle.

Blake made it 4-2 at 7:32 of the third period, scoring off Jarry’s right shoulder with a one-timer from the left circle during an extended delayed penalty.

Hyman cut it to 4-3 on a power play at 11:43. Leon Draisaitl skated down the right wing before passing back to Hyman for a one-timer that beat Andersen's blocker from the slot.

Staal shot into an empty net with 1:21 remaining, and with Jarry back in net, Blake scored his second goal of the period with 29 seconds left for the 6-3 final.

“They’ve obviously got some very good players, and we did a really good job of containing them,” Andersen said. “They’ve got a lot of speed when they carry the puck up the middle. The 'D' did a [heck] of a job containing McDavid a lot.”

NOTES: Blake has scored 19 goals this season, an NHL career high. ... Ehlers has scored five goals in his past three games. ... Dach, defenseman Connor Murphy and forward Jason Dickinson each made his Oilers debut after being acquired in a pair of trades from the Chicago Blackhawks earlier this week. Dach was minus-3 in 9:32 of ice time, Murphy was minus-2 in 20:32 of ice time, and Dickinson was plus-1 and was 8-for-16 on face-offs in 12:43 of ice time. ... McDavid (one goal, 10 assists) and defenseman Evan Bouchard (three goals, nine assists) each extended his point streak to six games.