No one expected Sam Gagner to have another four-goal, eight-point game, like he did on Thursday, but he didn’t fall down to Earth either. Gagner scored two power-play goals in the first period, including one with less than a second left on the clock in Edmonton’s 5-4 shootout win over Detroit.
Gagner also assisted on Jordan Eberle’s first goal of the game, but he wasn’t credited with an assist on Eberle’s late third period game-tying goal. That ended Gagner’s streak of getting a point in 11 straight Oilers goals, but even then, Gagner was on the ice for Edmonton’s fourth goal of the night and he was even briefly credited with an assist before they were revised to go to Ales Hemsky and Ryan Smyth. Then, just for good measure, Gagner netted a goal in the shootout.
Gagner will rest up for Monday’s game against the only player in the NHL that might be as hot as him: James Reimer, who has posted back-to-back shutouts, including a 49-save silencing of the Ottawa Senators on Saturday.