Bruins Beat Oilers, Win 5th Straight
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) -- The Boston Bruins shouldn't be all that eager to return home.
Michael Ryder had a goal and an assist to send surging Boston to yet another win on the road, 3-2 over the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday.
Nathan Horton and Rich Peverley also scored for the Northeast Division-leading Bruins, who have won five straight on their six-game road trip.
"This trip has been a great opportunity for us to introduce our new players to the hockey club by being on the road," Bruins coach Claude Julien said. "The timing was good. We've got a better record on the road than we do at home. We seem to play some really good, smart games on the road. Hopefully we can carry that back to Boston and be a little bit better there."
Ales Hemsky and Gilbert Brule had goals for the Oilers, who have lost two in a row and three of four. Brule was back in the lineup after sitting out 27 of the past 30 games with an illness.
"We competed and we didn't let numbers bother us," Edmonton coach Tom Renney said after his team was outshot 40-17. "We just kept playing and wouldn't go away, which is important. We did everything we could to play through it and play with them.
"I thought we did a pretty darn good job against one of the better teams in the National Hockey League."
It was the first NHL game between Edmonton left wing Taylor Hall and Boston center Tyler Seguin, picked first and second, respectively, in the 2010 entry draft. Hall entered with 40 points while Seguin had 21 in six fewer games.
"I thought we were able to stay consistent through a full 60 minutes," Seguin said. "They stayed in there, they had their chances, but we were able to pull through."
The Oilers, often victims of early goals against this season, started the game off quickly themselves for a change as Hemsky collected a rebound and slid it under Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask just 1:05 in.
Boston came back to tie it with 4 1/2 minutes left in the opening period. Ryder scooped up a rebound and waited for Oilers goalie Devan Dubnyk to go down before sending a shot into the top of the net for his 17th of the season.
The Bruins went ahead with 1:21 left in the first as David Krejci faked a shot before sending it over to Horton, who had an empty net to shoot into.
Boston outshot the Oilers 15-5 in the first period.
"They're big, they're fast and they work hard. More than anything, I think, it's their work ethic and their speed," Hall said. "This whole year is about learning and there's a lot to learn about how to play against big, hardworking guys like that."
The Bruins continued to dominate play in the second period but weren't rewarded until the final minute when Ryder fed Peverley, who deked Dubnyk to score his first goal with the Bruins since coming over in a trade with Atlanta.
Boston had a 32-12 lead on the shot clock after 40 minutes.
The Oilers got back into the game just more than 3 minutes into the third as Brule rifled a shot from the far edge of the faceoff circle past a screened Rask.
The Bruins close out their six-game trip Tuesday in Ottawa.
Notes: It's been eight games and more than 10 years since Edmonton last defeated Boston in October 2000. ... The Bruins shut out the Oilers 2-0 the previous time they met last season. ...
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
