Edmonton Oilers' Jordan Eberle (14) Nail Yakupov (64) and David Perron (57) celebrate a goal on the Columbus Blue Jackets during second period NHL action in Edmonton, Alta., on Tuesday November 19, 2013.JASON FRANSON/The Canadian Press
Goals have not come easy this season for the Edmonton Oilers, but you wouldn't have known it from Tuesday night.
David Perron had a career high four-point night with two goals and two assists as the Oilers experienced an offensive explosion, blasting the Columbus Blue Jackets 7-0 to record a rare home win for their second victory in a row.
"We played the right way," Perron said. "More games like that are going to happen if we do that. I doubt it's going to be 7-0 every night, but I feel that we did get some bounces tonight. It's nice to get a decisive win like that, compared to (Saturday's 4-2 come-from-behind win over Calgary) where I didn't feel we deserved it, but we found a way."
Oilers goalie Devan Dubnyk only needed 14 saves to record his first shutout of the season.
Jordan Eberle, Ryan Smyth, Nail Yakupov, Taylor Hall and Justin Schultz also scored for the Oilers (6-12-2), who improved to just 2-7-0 in Edmonton this season.
Edmonton was 2-9-1 in its previous 12 games before putting together just its second back-to-back win this year.
"The wins have been few and far between and to have a game like that, especially at home, it's good for the team, but more importantly it's good for our fans," said Oilers head coach Dallas Eakins. "They've been suffering just as much as we have. It's nice to give them something to go home feeling good about."
Yakupov said it wasn't just the offensive output, it was shutting the door the other way as well.
"We didn't give up anything," he said. "I didn't think we played awesome for 60 minutes, but I thought defensively, we played well. We played man-on-man and we were winning battles. I think we showed the fans how we're capable of playing. We felt pretty comfortable out there."
The mood was completely different in the other dressing room as the Blue Jackets (7-11-3) have lost in four of their last five and nine of their last 11 games.
"That was disgusting," said Columbus forward Nick Foligno. "We knew what kind of team they are and we played right into their hands. It is on everybody in this room, it is embarrassing. We handed them goals and gave them power plays and opportunities. It was really tough to be a part of this. I hope we have hit rock bottom here and understand that we are not a team that can play like this.
"This is the lowest of lows."
Blue Jackets head coach Todd Richards was left shaking his head after the poor performance.
"I'm just really, really disappointed," he said. "We weren't ready to play the game. We weren't ready to battle or do the things necessary to win. There was no desperation and no urgency. I don't know if we get too high on ourselves. You are going to have no success in this league, and it was proven first-hand tonight, if you aren't ready and willing to battle. This is what will happen to you."
The Oilers started the scoring two-and-a-half minutes into the opening period as the rebound on a Corey Potter point shot came to Eberle at the side of the net and he had a wide-open cage to deposit it into before Columbus starter Sergei Bobrovsky could get across. Edmonton came into the game with only one goal in its previous four home games.
The Oilers had been outscored 23-3 in their previous six home games, continued on to equal that goal output in the first period alone thanks to a pair of power-play goals.
Edmonton made it 2-0 with eight minutes remaining in the first as Perron intercepted a pass with his skate and shifted it to his stick for a quick shot and then swooped in to deposit the rebound for his sixth of the season.
Four minutes later, the Oilers had a rare three-goal lead, as Sam Gagner sent a pass through the crease and Smyth was able to bat it out of the air and in.
Edmonton had 15 shots in the first, while the Blue Jackets only mustered three shots on Dubnyk.
The Oilers took a 4-0 lead eight-and-a-half minutes into the second as the puck came to Perron off of a face-off win by Boyd Gordon and he picked the top corner with a shot from a bad angle for his third goal in the last two games.
Curtis McElhinney came in to replace Bobrovsky, who allowed four goals on 18 shots.
It didn't take long for the Oilers to get one past the back-up goalie either, as Perron made a terrific play to intercept a clearing attempt on an Edmonton power play and got a shot on net, with Yakupov following up to score his fourth of the season on the rebound with nine minutes to play in the second.
Columbus had its best chance of the game to that point less than a minute later as Ryan Johansen got in tight on the Edmonton net, but Dubnyk made a good play to poke the puck away.
The offensive explosion continued for the Oilers with just under five minutes to play in the second as Schultz joined the play on an odd-man rush and beat McElhinney with a shot high to the glove side.
It was the 10th straight goal the Oilers had scored in less than a 60-minute span going back to a four-goal third period to defeat the Flames 4-2 in Calgary on Saturday.
Edmonton was looking for more midway through the third but Gagner was unable to score his first goal of the season, sending a shot into a mostly empty net right on McElhinney who was down and doing snow angels in the crease on the play.
The Oilers made it 7-0 with three minutes left as Eberle sent Hall in on a breakaway and he was able to score five-hole on the Jackets netminder.
Notes: It was the first of just two meetings between the two teams this season. The Oilers will quickly return the favour by visiting Columbus on Nov. 29a It was the first time the first and second overall picks from the 2012 NHL Entry faced each other in the pro ranks. Edmonton, who won the draft lottery, jumped ahead of Columbus to select forward Yakupov. Columbus followed up that pick by taking defender Ryan Murray. After missing last season with a shoulder surgery, Murray came into the game with two goals and two assists in 20 games. In his second season, Yakupov had just three goals and three assists, but added a goal and an assist in this gamea Goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov was on the Oilers bench as the backup to Dubnyk for the first time after signing as a free agent last week. No announcement has been made as to when he is expected to make his first starta Jackets goalie Bobrovsky served as Bryzgalov's back-up in Philadelphia for a season before getting traded to Columbus prior to the lockout-shortened campaign. He went 21-11-6 with a 2.00 GAA and four shutouts with the Blue Jackets last season, winning the Vezina Trophya Sophomore defenceman Justin Schultz made his return to the Oilers lineup after missing the previous eight games with a groin injurya Columbus winger Matt Calvert is expected to make his return from abdominal surgery some time this week.