Leon Draisaitl scored a power-play goal with 1:42 left in overtime as the Edmonton Oilers staved off the Montreal Canadiens 3-2 Tuesday night at Rogers Place.
“We stuck with it and got a little fortunate in overtime,” Draisaitl said after the game.
Oilers forward Sam Carrick and Canadiens forward Michael Pezzetta ignited the crowd early with a spirited bout at centre ice.
Oilers captain Connor McDavid produced the game’s opening goal halfway through the first. After Mattias Ekholm kept the puck in, McDavid weaved through the Canadiens’ defence and stuffed his 26th of the season past Montreal goaltender Sam Montembault.
Ekholm picked up his second assist of the game with 5:05 left in the second. He came in from the left point and set up Adam Henrique for a tap-in, his first since joining the Oilers prior to the trade deadline.
“Certainly nice to get on the board tonight,” Henrique reflected after the game.
“We can’t give up that first one in the third period — our first shift as a line — but other than that, overall, I think my game’s been pretty good since I’ve been here.”
Oilers defenceman Evan Bouchard also assisted on the play, his 50th helper of the season.
The Canadiens broke through 32 seconds into the third as Nick Suzuki drove the net and had the puck go in off his skate. That ended netminder Calvin’s Pickard shutout streak at 142:58.
Kaiden Guhle would then beat Pickard with a wrister from the left wing making it 2-2 with 15:17 left.
“Credit to them not giving up,” Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said. “They get a bit of a bounce on the first goal — driving the net and it goes off a skate — but unfortunately we just weren’t as quick on pucks and they won the race.
“They had the puck a lot more than we did tonight.”
“We’d like to handle that third period better,” Draisaitl said after the game. “I think in the past, we’ve found ways to lose those games and let frustration sink in.
“We’ll take the two points, but obviously there’s lots to do better.”
Canadiens defenceman David Savard was nabbed for hooking Oilers winger Evander Kane with 2:43 to go in the third. Oilers forward Zach Hyman drilled a hard shot off the post with 1:10 on the clock.
The Oilers went on another power play when Montreal’s Joel Armia was slapped with a double-minor for high-sticking Henrique with 27.5 ticks to go.
With 15 seconds left on the power play, McDavid found Draisaitl for a sharp angle one-timer to end the game.
Pickard finished with 23 saves.
The Oilers (41-21-4) will host the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday. You can listen to the game live on 630 CHED, beginning with The Faceoff Show at 5:30 p.m. The actual game starts at 7 p.m.