Leon Draisaitl continued his mastery of the Nashville Predators, netting a hat trick in the Edmonton Oilers’ 4-0 victory Thursday night.
Draisaitl has 17 goals in his last eight games against the Preds.
Goaltender Mike Smith made 30 saves for his first shutout of the season.
The Oilers took the lead on the power play just before the nine-minute mark of the first. Edmonton defenceman Tyson Barrie held in the Predators’ clearing attempt and put the puck to Connor McDavid on the left wing. He passed to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins in the high slot, who tapped the puck over to Draisaitl. His one-timer was his 52nd goal of the season.
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Draisaitl struck again in the second period, taking a pass in front from Zach Hyman and snapping the puck past Predators netminder Jusse Saros’ blocker.
Less than three minutes later, Oilers defenceman Darnell Nurse took a pass from Evander Kane and sniped a shorthanded goal to make it 3-0.
The Predators celebrated a goal by Colton Sissons early in the third, but it came off the board when the Oilers successfully challenged for offside.
Draisaitl completed the hat trick with a quick wrister on the power play.
McDavid and Nugent-Hopkins both had two assists.
The Oilers (43-26-6) will host the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday. You can listen to the game live on 630 CHED, beginning with The Faceoff Show at 12:30 p.m. The actual game starts at 2 p.m.
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