Oilers End Losing Skid With Heritage Classic Win

Good morning. We hope you had a great weekend!

Although the Blackhawks and Golden Knights collected the lion’s share of Friday’s poll votes as the game to have the most goals scored, it was the Sabres and Devils who set the night’s high-mark with 9 goals.

- Brandon Rubeo & Kevin Allen

Today’s Lineup:

• Oilers win Heritage Classic, end 4-game skid

• Sabres’ Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen earns 1st NHL shutout

• Jesper Bratt’s two goal lead Devils past Wild

• And a lot more… 👇

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH EXPEDIA

Head to the beach for less!

With winter around the corner, let Expedia help you find a warm getaway for less at a beautiful beach hotel!

Oilers End Losing Skid With Heritage Classic Win

The Heritage Classic outdoor game may have been what the Edmonton Oilers needed to breathe life into their season.

Connor McDavid returned from injury to help the Oilers down the Calgary Flames 5-2 in front of a sold-out crowd of 55,411 at Commonwealth Stadium. The win ended an Oilers’ four-game losing streak.

Even with this win, the Oilers’ record is 2-5-1, not where the team expected to be at this point in the season. 

Kane led Edmonton’s attack with a goal, two assists, six shots and six hits. Zach Hyman registered a goal and an assist. Hyman was +4 in the game and he’s the sixth player to record two or more multipoint games outdoors. He joins David Pastrnak, Henrik Zetterberg, Nathan MacKinnon, Sean Couturier and Tomas Tatar.

McDavid’s return is as important to the Oilers as the win. He missed the two previous Edmonton games due to an upper-body injury sustained against the Winnipeg Jets on Oct. 21. He had two shots on goal against the Flames and was +2 in 23:26 of ice time.

The original prognosis had McDavid absent for up to two weeks, but he returned in eight days.

The result had to be demoralizing for the Flames. They have now lost five in a row in regulation and have been outscored 16-5 in those contests.

🚫 Sabres’ Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen earns 1st career shutout, Buffalo beats Colorado 4-0. The 24-year-old Finish netminder collected 26 saves in his third start of the season. JJ Peterka buried the eventual game-winner midway through the 1st, Casey Mittelstadt and Tyson Jost scored in the 2nd, and Rasmus Dahlin sniped a long distance empty netter in the 3rd for the Sabres. After setting an NHL record with 15 consecutive road wins, the Avalanche end their three-game road trip with consecutive shutout losses. Read more →

😈 Jesper Bratt scores twice and adds assist as Devils defeat Wild 4-3. Bratt, the Devils 2016 6th round pick, opened scoring just over six minutes into regulation, quickly catching and releasing a John Marino feed to the back of the Wild net, before scoring an almost identical goal late in the 2nd period for the game-winner, this time on the power play. Tyler Toffoli and Erik Haula added goals while Luke Hughes tallied two assists and Vitek Vanecek collected 31 saves as the Devils won their 2nd straight. Read more →

Who is the Buffalo Sabres all-time leader in shutouts? Bonus: can you name the top 5?

• Intermediate to advanced puck handling drill focusing on smooth movement and upper body mobility

• Michael Jordan’s key to being great: being present

“The Dominator” Dominik Hasek is the Buffalo Sabres all-time shutout leader with 55.