EDMONTON — Vasily Podkolzin vowed there's more to come after his first goal as an Edmonton Oiler.
Podkolzin scored the game’s first goal and Connor McDavid had two goals and an assist for the Oilers in a 6-2 victory over the New York Rangers on Saturday
Podkolzin was all over opposing nets in recent games and was finally rewarded when he beat Rangers goalie Jonathan Quick for his first goal this season, his first as an Oiler and his first goal since last March for a span of 42 regular-season games.
“It took much longer than I thought, but sometimes God gives you a little bit of challenges for the life, and for being a better hockey player or better person,” Podkolzin said.
“It's tough, but sometimes you need these challenges in your life to be a better hockey player. Be patient, keep working, and try to think positive. Have a strong mentality.”
Leon Draisaitl dropped the puck back to Podkolzin whose one-timer went in off the post with 2:26 left in the first period.
The 23-year-old Russian forward was a 10th overall pick by the Vancouver Canucks in 2019, but he was traded to the Oilers in the summer for a fourth-round draft pick.
Draisaitl's been impressed by Podkolzin’s play and was thrilled to see finally see him get rewarded.
“He’s really underrated and does a lot of things that go unnoticed that a lot of people that don’t really understand hockey, they don’t pick up on it,” Draisaitl said. “I am very happy for him to get on the board. He's had plenty of looks. Hopefully this opens the floodgates for him a little bit.”
Podkolzin said Draisaitl has been very supportive through his scoring drought.
“He tells me, after almost every game, ‘Keep going. Everything is good. Work hard, and this stuff will come,” he said. “And finally, I scored. And I’m going to score more.”
Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard each had a goal and an assist and Darnell Nurse also scored short-handed for the Oilers (11-9-2) who have gone 5-2-1 in their last eight outings.
Mattias Janmark and Connor Brown each had a pair of assists for Edmonton.
“There is a lot to build off of,” Nurse said. “It’s one of those foundation games that you can gain some momentum off of if we can take it and use it the right way. You want to be good on home ice, especially against good teams, and we did that tonight.”
It was Nurse's first game back in the lineup after a check to his head by Toronto's Ryan Reaves a week earlier. Reaves was slapped with a five-game suspension.
Stuart Skinner made 33 saves in net for the Oilers.
Artemi Panarin replied with a pair of goals for the Rangers (12-6-1) who have lost two straight after opening a four-game road trip with a pair of victories.
“We’re leaving our goalies out to dry in the first period especially and we have to come out with a lot more urgency and we have to dig deep here and look at ourselves in the mirror before the next game,” said New York forward Vincent Trocheck.
Quick had 34 saves for the Rangers.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 23, 2024.
Shane Jones, The Canadian Press