Arnott, Devils Blast Oilers
Jason Arnott kept a promise to his mother and enjoyed a happy homecoming.
The New Jersey Devils' right wing scored two goals to lead a 4-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday night.
"I talked to my mom, Eileen, before the game," said Arnott, a former Oiler. "I told her I'd score two for her. Those were for her."
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Arnott opened the scoring 3:37 into the game and added his second with 2:30 left in regulation as the Devils stretched their winning streak to four games, all on the road. New Jersey leads the league with a 24-8-2 road record.
"The guys kept going at them," said Devils defenseman Scott Niedermayer. "We came out so hard, and we were putting the puck on the tape."
Niedermayer and Petr Sykora both had three assists as New Jersey out-shot the Oilers 36-22, including 30-5 in the first 24 minutes.
The Oilers, fighting for a playoff spot in the Western Conference, lost their fifth in a row and are winless in six games.
"It seemed like they were backing up a bit," said Arnott, who was acquired from the Oilers in a Jan. 4, 1998, trade. "I was calm and relaxed.
"When you're playing with Patrik (Elias) and (Petr) Sykora, they're going to find you. Two goals went in early and we got our confidence up."
Elias and and rookie Brendan Morrison also scored for New Jersey, which leads the Atlantic Division at 38-21-8.
"I'm embarrassed that we left Steve (Passmore) out to dry," said Oilers coach Ron Low.
Oilers captain Kelly Buchberger also expressed his disappointment with the performance. Buchberger played for the first time after missing 30 games with a broken right forearm.
"It takes everybody to come out of it," Buchberger said. "We've got to start playing desperate hockey. You can talk all you want in meetingsBut if you don't go out and execute, it doesn't mean anything."
Todd Marchant had a short-handed goal for the Oilers at 15:27 of the second period. Just 28 seconds later, he was assessed a major penalty for checking from behind, plus a game misconduct.
The Oilers are 0-13-3 at home and 4-25-9 overall when the opposing team scores first. They play 10 of their final 14 games at home.
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