Edmonton, Alberta: Taylor Hall scored on a penalty shot and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored the winner in the final minutes to lift Edmonton to a 3-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday, giving the Oilers their first win of the season.
Justin Schultz also scored for the Oilers, who had matched the team’s worst start. Edmonton were the final team in the Western Conference to earn a victory.
Brian Boyle and Brett Connolly scored for the Lightning.
Boyle gave Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead in the second period, but Edmonton took the lead before the period was over. Nugent-Hopkins made it 3-2 with 3:52 left in the game.
The Oilers nearly took a 1-0 lead seven minutes in when Jeff Petry’s point blast eluded goalie Ben Bishop but hit the post.
Tampa Bay then almost scored four minutes later when it appeared that Connolly had scored on Ben Scrivens. However, the goal was waved off because Boyle interfered with Scrivens in front.
The Lightning went ahead 1-0 on a fluke goal 1:22 into the second when Boyle hooked a shot out front from behind the goal line that hit Schultz’s knee and rolled in past a surprised Scrivens.
Schultz tied it three minutes later, taking a give-and-go from the point, swooping in and beating Bishop on the backhand.
Edmonton made it 2-1 lead with five minutes left in the second after Hall was taken down by Matthew Carle during a breakaway. Hall was awarded a penalty shot and scored between Bishop’s legs for his fourth goal.
Tampa Bay levelled it 2-2 with six minutes left in the third period as Tyler Johnson found Connolly in the slot for a shot past Scrivens.
However, Edmonton went ahead for good when Jordan Eberle picked off a pass in the Tampa Bay zone and fed the puck to Nugent-Hopkins, who beat a screened Bishop with a perfect shot to the top corner.
The Lightning have not won in Edmonton since March 7, 2007. It was the only NHL game Monday.
