RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) _ Leon Draisaitl had a goal and three assists and the Edmonton Oilers rode three-goal first period to a 7-3 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night.
Drake Caggiula, Matt Benning and Ryan Strome scored in a span of 4:24 in the opening period after Carolina jumped to a 1-0 lead, and Edmonton led the rest of the way. Pontus Aberg, Yohann Auvitu and Jesse Puljujarvi also scored as the Oilers got six goals on their first 22 shots. Cam Talbot made 28 saves for Edmonton.
Brock McGinn, Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen scored for the Hurricanes, who have lost six of eight. Scott Darling allowed three goals on his first nine shots and six on 22 but was left in the game. He finished with 23 saves.
The scoring began early in a wild, five-goal first period, including a few unusual tallies.
McGinn opened the scoring with a no-look, through-the-legs backhand pass that was accidentally pushed in by Auvitu.
Edmonton responded with its three-goal flurry. Caggiula tied it 23 seconds after McGinn scored, and Benning gave the Oilers the lead with an extraordinary goal two minutes later. After his initial shot went off Darling's leg pad and up onto the glass behind the net, Benning waited for the puck to come down, swung his stick like a baseball bat, and hit the puck off Darling's back and into the net.
Strome finished the burst with another atypical goal. Darling stopped Strome's stuff attempt, but the puck wiggled free, and defenseman Justin Faulk pushed it into his own net.
Aho kept the Hurricanes within one with a power-play goal late in the first, but the Oilers scored three times again in the second period to turn it into a rout.
Just 1:32 into the period, Faulk inexplicably backhanded a no-look pass from the corner to the front of his own net. Draisatl took the free puck and sent a pass to Aberg, who buried it along the inside post for his first goal as an Oiler since being acquired at the trade deadline.
Auvitu got in on the scoring midway through the second when he finished a 3-on-2 rush with a wrist shot past Darling's glove, and Draisatl joined the party with a one-timer from the right faceoff circle, his 23rd this season. Puljujarvi provided the finishing touch when he gathered his own rebound and pushed a backhander through Darling's legs.
NOTES
Draisaitl surpassed 200 career points. ... Aho and Teravainen extended their point streaks to six games. ... Oilers F Connor McDavid played in his 200th NHL game. ... Hurricanes D Noah Hanifin missed his second straight game with a concussion. ... Oilers D Andrej Sekera and F Zack Kassian both missed the game with undisclosed injuries.
UP NEXT
Oilers: At the Ottawa Senators on Thursday.
Hurricanes: Host the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday.