Oilers rebound, defeat Canucks in shootout in season opener

EDMONTON -- Connor McDavid had two assists for the Edmonton Oilers in a 3-2 shootout win against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Place on Wednesday in the season opener for each team.

Zach Hyman scored in his debut for the Oilers, and Mike Smith made 36 saves, including three in overtime.
Kyle Turris scored the deciding goal in the fifth round of the shootout.
"It's so important to get the first win out of the way," McDavid said. "I thought we played a great game all the way through and were just kind of undisciplined and took too many penalties. If you're going to give a good power play five or six looks like we did, especially at a time where they needed one, they're going to find a way to get one."
Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored in his debut for the Canucks, who came back from down two goals in the third period. Thatcher Demko made 32 saves.
"They have a lot of firepower over there, I like how our guys stuck with it," Vancouver coach Travis Green said. "We talked about it after the second; we just had to believe in our game and what we're trying to do and believe in the process. The power-play goal was a big one, it gets us back in the game and good things happen when you put the puck to the net."
Jesse Puljujarvi scored at 16:55 of the first period to give Edmonton a 1-0 lead. He collected a rebound in front and lifted a shot over Demko.

Hyman scored on the power play on a three-way passing play with McDavid and Leon Draisaitl at 17:12 of the second period to make it 2-0.
"Obviously, this power play has been together for a long time and they have great chemistry, so I'm just trying to fit in and try to find lanes," said Hyman, who signed a seven-year contract July 28 after six seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs. "We practice it a lot, the backside; obviously all those guys, Leon, Connor and [Ryan Nugent-Hopkins] can all make those backdoor passes, so you have to be able to find a lane for those guys, and whether they shoot it past the goalie or find me, it was good to get the first one."
Ekman-Larsson scored on the power play on a shot through traffic at 12:28 of the third period to make it 2-1.
"We did a lot of good things in that game," said Ekman-Larsson, a defenseman who was acquired along with forward Conor Garland in a trade with the Arizona Coyotes on July 23. "Being down 2-0 going into the third and battling back, I thought we did a lot of good things."
Quinn Hughes scored at 17:11 on a shot from the left boards that beat Smith on the short side to tie it 2-2.
"I think [Elias Pettersson] was driving to the net and it was a good screen, and I had a guy on my hip too and wanted to get rid of it soon," Hughes said. "I know if I got something to the net, I didn't know if it would go in or not, but I knew it would surprise him, and I was lucky that I think he was cheating and wasn't on his post.
"It's always important to get off to a good start, and last year we didn't get off to a good start, and it's always tough when you're struggling, so to get a point in our first game, it's encouraging."

Nugent-Hopkins scored the first goal of the shootout in the top of the fourth round, but Bo Horvat scored to extend it in the bottom half.
"There was some good, and there was some stuff that we can clean up," Oilers coach Dave Tippett said. "I thought we took too many penalties. We started the third period in the penalty box carried over from the second and we took two more. What that does is it feeds their players to get them back in the game with their power play. The other thing it does, is it takes our lineup out of the game, and you have killers going over and over and you're trying to get everybody back in the game, and then you take another penalty, so you lose your rhythm in the game."
Edmonton was 1-for-2 on the power play, and Vancouver was 1-for-5.
NOTES: Defenseman Duncan Keith had one blocked shot in 15:24 in his Oilers debut. … Garland had an assist and two shots on goal in 20:09. … Forward Jason Dickinson had two shots on goal in 16:29 in his Canucks debut. … Forward Alex Chiasson, who played the past three seasons for the Oilers, had five shots on goal in 14:23 after signing a one-year contract with the Canucks on Tuesday after he was in training camp with them on a professional tryout. … Vancouver forward Vasily Podkolzin made his NHL debut.