EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) 鈥� Ryan O鈥橰eilly had three goals and an assist and the Nashville Predators beat the Edmonton Oilers 5-2 on Saturday to end a two-game losing streak.
Filip Forsberg added a goal and two assists, Thomas Novak also scored and Kevin Lankinen made 33 saves to help the Predators improve to 5-6-0.
鈥淲e were playing against that (Connor) McDavid line and such, it鈥檚 always tough,鈥� said O鈥橰eilly, who signed with Nashville as a free agent this past summer after a stint with Toronto. 鈥淏ut we were connected, we were doing the right things and just kind of moving our feet with the puck."
O鈥橰eilly has five career hat tricks.
鈥淗e鈥檚 probably the smartest player that I鈥檝e played with in this league, maybe,鈥� Forsberg said. 鈥淗e just knows where to go, he鈥檚 so good with his stick detail. You see all three, even the fourth goal that he ended up scoring, he鈥檚 just around the net finding loose pucks. It鈥檚 pretty simple for me, I just try to get it to him.鈥�
Darnell Nurse and Zach Hyman scored for Edmonton and Jack Campbell stopped 29 shots. Winless at home, the Oilers have lost six of seven to drop to 2-7-1.
鈥淚 thought we had a good start and then the mental mistakes that keep costing us over and over again made us chase the game and it is hard to chase games in this league,鈥� McDavid said. 鈥淚t is just death by a thousand cuts, that is what it feels like. One mistake and it costs us and another little mistake and it just snowballs.鈥�
The Oilers opened the scoring on Nurse's power-play goal at 9:57 of the first. Nurse鈥檚 point shot hit the post, then caromed off the back of Lankinen.
Nashville tied it 25 seconds later, with Forsberg going around the net to beat Campbell to the far post with a wraparound. Defenseman Marc Del Gaizo assisted on the goal in his NHL debut.
Nashville took the lead 23 seconds into the second period, with O鈥橰eilly scoring off a rebound on Forsberg's shot. The pair padded their totals on a power play three minutes later. Forsberg made a pretty pass through the top of the crease to a wide-open O鈥橰eilly for his second goal of the game.
Hyman got a goal back on a power play at 5:08 of the second. A one-timer from Evan Bouchard ticked off the skate of Hyman and into the net.
Novak restored the Predators鈥� two-goal edge with 4:45 left in the period. He fought off defenseman Vincent Desharnais on a partial breakaway and beat Campbell high to the stick side for his sixth goal.
O'Reilly scored twice on the same shift midway through the third. He put the puck in on a chip shot from the slot to apparently complete the hat trick. However, a review determined that a shot by O鈥橰eilly in a scramble earlier in the shift had actually crossed the line before being swept out.
鈥淚 knew I got a piece of it at the net, but I didn鈥檛 hear anything, so I thought, 鈥業t must not have,鈥� and everyone kept going," O'Reilly said. "But you obviously get another chance, it goes in.鈥�
UP NEXT
Predators: At Calgary on Tuesday night.
Oilers: At Vancouver on Monday night.
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