Pyyahtä scores his first NHL goal as the Blue Jackets beat the Oilers 6-1

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Mikael Pykhtia scored his first NHL goal and the Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Edmonton Oilers 6-1 on Monday night for their second straight home win.

Sean Monahan had two goals, Cole Sillinger added a goal and two assists, while Adam Fantilli and Mathieu Olivier scored for Columbus, and Kirill Marchenko had two assists. Elvis Merzlikins had a shutout for 19:33 of the third period before allowing a late goal, but he stopped 31 shots as the Blue Jackets continued their trend of winning every other game this season.

Mattias Ekholm scored and Stuart Skinner stopped 19 shots for the Oilers, who had their two-game winning streak snapped.

Takeaway

Oilers: The Oilers lost star center Connor McDavid to a lower-body injury 37 seconds into the opening faceoff when he hit the boards. Despite outscoring Columbus in the first two periods, they failed to convert on five power play opportunities.

Blue Jackets: Columbus continued to score early and often, scoring six goals in every win this season.

Key Point

Viktor Arvidsson came out sharply and tripped Merzlikins with 1:36 to play, leading to Columbus’s first power play and Monahan’s first goal. The Oilers never seemed to regain their balance and struggled to produce quality looks.

Key Statistics

After the Oilers failed to score on any of their opportunities, their power play percentage dropped to 13%. Edmonton also has the worst penalty kill rate in the league at 60%.

Next

The Oilers visit Nashville on Thursday and the Blue Jackets host the New York Islanders on Wednesday.

___

AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL