GAME RECAP: Oilers 3, Rangers 1

NEW YORK, NY – Grindin' it out in the Garden.

The Edmonton Oilers scored two third-period goals from Viktor Arvidsson and Connor McDavid and went 3-for-3 on the penalty kill on Sunday night to claim a 3-1 victory over the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden, winning consecutive games to close out their four-game Eastern road trip.

"Very important. The best way for us to finish the road trip I think, especially the way that things started," Stuart Skinner said. "We got a long flight going back home, gonna be getting in late, so it's a lot. It's a much better feeling going back home, getting some sleep and knowing that you're able to at least get four points."

Corey Perry scored his 15th goal of the season on the power play in the first period before Will Cuylle responded with the only goal of the middle frame to make it 1-1 heading into the final stanza, where Arvidsson notched his ninth of the year before McDavid provided the Oilers insurance with less than four minutes remaining to secure the Blue & Orange the win in the world's most famous arena in Midtown Manhattan.

Leon Draisaitl now owns the longest point streak in the NHL this season after pushing his personal point streak to a career-high 18 games with an assist on Perry's goal, while Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was stellar on a line with Arvidsson and Vasily Podkolzin all night and contributed three helpers in the win.

Goaltender Stuart Skinner was phenomenal, making 21 saves in the victory as the Oilers improved to 39-24-4 this season – moving back ahead of the Los Angeles Kings for second place in the Pacific Division.

The Oilers return home to begin a three-game homestand on Tuesday night with a visit from Utah Hockey Club to Rogers Place.

FIRST PERIOD

The Oilers were moving their feet in the first period to help create three power plays in the opening 20 minutes at the Garden – two of which were drawn off hooks on winger Jeff Skinner, who had an impactful frame to create the man advantage that led the Oilers to a 1-0 lead entering the intermission.

"I thought we were moving our boots right away," Skinner said. "Started in the first period, rolled over our lines pretty well and stuck to a simple, structured game."

Edmonton killed off a Ryan Nugent-Hopkins slashing penalty on former Canuck J.T. Miller early in the period before Jeff Skinner drew the first of his two hooks in the frame with a determined rush coming over the Rangers blue line a few minutes later, but they couldn't generate any chances on their first look with the man advantage.

Neither could they when Connor McDavid was taken down from behind by Miller with a cross-check after the period's midway mark, with the Oilers captain having the best chance on the ensuing power play off a fast zone entry that was broken up by a good defensive play from a New York defenceman.

After Stuart Skinner was bailed out by a post early in the period by a dangerous shot from Miller from the right circle, Edmonton's shot-stopper was steady making seven shots – including an in-tight stop on Mika Zibanejad later in the frame and a smart pad save on former Oilers forward Sam Carrick's full-ice rush.

Jeff Skinner was back moving his feet to draw a hook from K'Andre Miller with over a minute to go in the period when McDavid put it through to him in front for a dangerous chance, resulting in Corey Perry putting the Oilers ahead with 43 seconds left before the intermission.

Leon Draisaitl put a shot on goal from the top of the right circle that caused a scramble in front of goaltender Igor Shesterkin, who fought off two chances from Perry around the crease before the veteran 39-year-old forward put it away on his third try with the backhand for a 1-0 lead.

Perry moved past Ilya Kovalchuk into a tie with Daniel Alfredsson for the 69th most goals in NHL history (444), and his 15 goals this season are the second-most by any player averaging 12:00 or less TOI per-game behind only Ottawa's Adam Gaudette (16).

Draisaitl now owns the longest point streak in the NHL this season after recording the secondary assist for point No. 101 on the year that pushed his career-best streak to 18 games (13G, 13A). The German also needs one more goal for his fourth career 50-goal campaign, which would tie him with Jari Kurri for the second-most in Oilers history behind only Wayne Gretzky (8).

SECOND PERIOD

Every game on this road trip has been a grind, and the Garden would be no different for the Oilers on Sunday night.

Edmonton would give up the only goal of the middle frame to Will Cuylle exactly five minutes into the period to make it 1-1 when Vincent Trocheck's pass off the rush in front to the winger slid precariously through the five-hole of Stuart Skinner, sitting inches away from the goal line before Brett Kulak's attempted last-gasp clearance ended up hitting the stick of Ty Emberson to send it back towards goal for Cuylle to get a second crack at pushing in the equalizer.

The Oilers came into Sunday's meeting with the Rangers having played five straight one-goal games, with their two losses to Buffalo and New Jersey on this four-game road trip seeing them hold slender 2-1 leads entering the final 20 minutes.

Vasily Podkolzin was having an active game showing his tenacity on the forecheck on a first=period chance that nearly resulted in a goal for Viktor Arvidsson, but the Russian winger helped create another great look in the second period finding Nugent-Hopkins alone in front for a wide-open opportunity that the longest-tenured Oiler put just wide of the far post on Shesterkin.

That line of Podkolzin, Nugent-Hopkins and Arvidsson buzzing for the Blue & Orange, and the setting was there for the trio to have a big impact on the scoreline in the final period with the game in the balance tied at 1-1 after 40 minutes.

"Definitely tight-checking on both sides, a lot like the other night against Islanders," Nugent-Hopkins said. "But that's kind of definitely our mandate as to how we want to play games, and obviously, a lot of the time when you do that to teams, it leads to more offense. I thought they did a pretty good job sticking with it too. We just got that third period one to push us over the top, but I think overall, that needs to be our mindset down the last 15 so games here."

THIRD PERIOD

If it's gonna be a grind, grind to victory.

The aforementioned third line for the Oilers was up to the task early in the period by establishing the forecheck on a hard-working shift where they spent close to a minute in the Rangers zone, which didn't result in a goal but would lay the foundation for that unit to come through in the clutch soon after.

"Definitely important," Nugent-Hopkins said. "They were coming off a back to back. They were traveling. That's tough, so we wanted to make sure that we came out and got on them. We didn't want to give them anything easy right away in the third and we did a good job and Stu still had to make some big saves, but it was a good job finding a way defensively."

Arvidsson would break up Rangers possession in his team's own zone to send his line on the counter-attack with numbers just past the six-minute mark of the third period, where the Swedish winger exchanged passes with Nugent-Hopkins in the neutral zone before firing a shot inside the right circle that tipped up off the stick of defenceman Zach Jones and into the top shelf for his ninth of the season and the all-important 2-1 goal with 13:51 remaining.

New York was relentless trying to tie the game, forcing Stuart Skinner into a handful of critical saves around the blue paint before Edmonton had to come up with the crucial penalty kill near the midway mark to remain perfect on Sunday night at 3-for-3 and keep the Rangers searching for a tying goal.

"He was outstanding," Nugent-Hopkins said of Skinner. "I thought the other night, he was great too, but he's an elite goalie and Stu just stepped up and made some huge saves when we needed him to and stayed composed. He kind of led the way."

Skinner made a massive save on Zibanejad before the penalty kill and made the save this time after the play was oddly similar to one he couldn't make in New Jersey a few days earlier.

"There was a block shot and I made the save, and then they're twisting and turning looking for it," Skinner said. "It goes right to the guy's stick and I was able to get a piece of it today, and especially at the time, I think it was still 2-1 and a big save at a big time. I'm very happy that I was able to get that one."

Those hopes were dashed with 3:25 left in regulation after McDavid took a bank pass from Nugent-Hopkins near the Rangers bench, crossed the blue line and let fly a wrist shot far side on Shesterkin for the 3-1 lead and the two points nearly bagged for the Blue & Orange to close out their road trip.

"Massive goal," Stuart Skinner said. "Being able to get up two is huge, especially with two and a half minutes left. Obviously, you know that they're going to pull their goalie right away, so we knew we had a test for us being six-on-five."

Nugent-Hopkins picked up his third assist of the game, along with a helper for Brett Kulak on McDavid's 25th goal of the season and first goal in four games.

New York pulled their goalie with plenty of time left to try and chase a two-goal deficit, but in typical fashion on Sunday night, they grinded it out to cap off their trip to the Big Apple with two consecutive victories – finishing with 19 blocked shots.

"Skinner, Podkolzin and Walman I think had five or six [blocks] tonight," Knoblauch said. "It was just a lot of guys digging in and doing the right thing."

"The guys obviously played really well in front of me and especially at the end there where we were six-on-five up to with a few seconds to go," Stuart Skinner said. "We were still blocking shots, so that's a huge credit to the guys."