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Oilers D Marincin Tops Bruins In 12th Round Of Shootout
Boston Bruins' Milan Lucic (17) is stopped by Edmonton Oilers goalie Ben Scrivens (30) as Mark Fayne (5) defends during the third period of an NHL hockey game Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2015, in Edmonton, Alberta. The Oilers won 4-3. (JASON FRANSON / Associated Press)
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Not knowing what he was doing in the shootout didn't seem to faze Martin Marincin.
The Oilers defenseman from Slovakia scored the lone shootout goal in the 12th round, and Edmonton snapped a two game skid with a 4-3 victory over the struggling Boston Bruins on Wednesday night.
The teams had gone 0 for 23 in the tiebreaker before Marincin broke the deadlock. He has no goals and one assist in 17 games this season with Edmonton.
Marincin, who had never scored a goal in the NHL, was credited with the winner on a bit of a flubbed play. He whiffed on his attempt, but the puck still trickled past Boston goalie Tuukka Rask.
"That felt great," he said. "That was my first NHL goal, and it came on my birthday. I just tried to make a move, and the ice was bad, so I guess I had some good luck."
Nail Yakupov, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Teddy Purcell scored in regulation for the Oilers (17-32-10), who broke a 13-game losing streak against Boston, dating to 2001.
Oilers forward Jordan Eberle, who recorded two assists, said Marincin's inexperience might have been an advantage.
"If you don't even know what you are doing, there is no way (the goalie) does," Eberle said with a laugh. "It ended up working."
Loui Eriksson, Reilly Smith and David Pastrnak had goals for the Bruins (28-20-9), who have lost five in a row and are in danger of slipping out of the Eastern Conference playoff picture.
"We know it's going to be a fight until the end," Bruins captain Zdeno Chara said. "This is not a group that is going to give up. We're going to fight for every point, every game. We know we can get it together like we did before."
The Oilers buzzed early and took a 1-0 lead 4:29 in when Derek Roy made a pass from behind the net to Yakupov, who beat Rask to extend his point streak to six games.
Edmonton went ahead 2-0 on the power play. With 4:07 left in the first period, Purcell sent a pass through the top of the crease to Nugent-Hopkins, who blasted in his 16th goal.
Boston got on the board with a power-play goal with 20 seconds left in the first when Eriksson tipped Dougie Hamilton's shot past goalie Ben Scrivens, who was making his return from a hamstring injury.
The Oilers restored their two-goal lead with another power-play goal at 9:00 of the second. Purcell scored on a wrist shot through traffic from the high slot.
The Bruins made it 3-2 with 5:43 remaining in the second as Smith picked up a rebound in front of the Oilers net and whacked it past Scrivens.
Just 1:35 later, Pastrnak ticked a hard shot from the point by defenseman Chara into the Edmonton net.
There was no scoring in the third period or overtime despite a pair of glorious chances for Milan Lucic.
Both teams return to action on Friday as the Bruins play the fourth game of a five-game trip in Chicago. Edmonton will remain home to face the Minnesota Wild.
NOTES: There was speculation that recent call-up Malcolm Subban would get his first NHL start in net for theBruins, but they opted to give Rask his 24th appearance in 25 games. ... Oilers defenseman Jeff Petry (ribs) and forward Anton Lander (shoulder) left the game after the second period.
Teddy Purcell
Jordan Eberle
Loui Eriksson
Zdeno Chara
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins
Reilly Smith
Nail Yakupov
Eastern Conference (NHL)
Anton Lander
Jeff Petry
Ben Scrivens
Dougie Hamilton
Derek Roy
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