Sometimes, a 2-1 game is just as exciting as a 6-5 game, as we learned on Tuesday evening when the Oilers scored a late game-tying goal before winning in overtime.
With the win over the Boston Bruins, Edmonton’s record is now 38-20-2, bringing their point total to 78 points, five ahead of the Vegas Golden Knights and seven behind the Vancouver Canucks with a game in hand.
Although this one featured a very exciting finish, the game was scoreless heading into the third period, and remained as such for nearly five minutes. That was until Cody Ceci made a horrendous pinch, leading to a Bruins 2-on-1 where Pavel Zacha made no mistake to give the Bruins the lead.
Fast forward nearly the entire period and the Oilers had an empty net. There was a not-so-good turnover at the blue line, leading Evan Bouchard to panic and shoot it, just for the shot to get blocked. Danton Heinen thought he had a wide open lane to the empty net, but for the second time this week, made a terrific back check to take a scoring opportunity away.
Of course, I’ve already spoiled the outcome of the game, so how did the Oilers tie it? Off a faceoff, Leon Draisaitl won it back to Bouchard, who passed it cross-ice to Connor McDavid. The best player of all time passed it out front to Draisaitl, who put it on net and with the puck bouncing high in the air, it went over top of Linus Ullmark, bounced off his pad, and in. This was Draisaitl’s 31st goal of the season.
The Oilers had a chance to finish the game in regulation, but the puck stayed out meaning that the two teams played their second overtime game of the season. After a few chances either way, McDavid carried the puck in the zone, finding Draisaitl in his office for the one-timer goal for the overtime winner and two points banked.
INSTANT REACTION
Stuart Skinner had a fantastic game, saving 25 of the 26 shots he faced for a .962 save percentage, with no real chance of saving the only goal he allowed. Moreover, he made a few big saves, including a cross ice shot in the first period, as well as a point blank save against a Bruin in the third period when they already had a 1-0 lead. This is the Skinner the Oilers need in the playoffs.
Connor McDavid picked up two points on Tuesday, bringing him to 23 goals and 99 points on the season, six shy of Nikita Kucherov and Nathan MacKinnon for the league lead in points. McDavid always plays his best hockey down the stretch, so don’t be all too surprised if he picks up his sixth Art Ross.
Evan Bouchard also picked up two assists, which brought him to 15 goals and 60 points in 60 games this season. His 15 goals are still tied for the defenceman lead in the category – tied with Rasmus Dahlin, MacKenzie Weegar, and Roman Josi – while his 60 points are tied for fifth with Victor Hedman.
The Oilers are now on a five-game winning streak. Over those five wins, they’ve only allowed seven goals. Both Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard have looked rock-solid between the pipes lately and the team has been playing very tight defence in front of them.
Up next… The Oilers will continue their four-game road trip with a game in Columbus on Thursday at 5:00 PM MT. This will be the final game before the trade deadline, where they’ll hopefully add a top-six scoring winger and a defenceman.
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