Connor McDavid had two goals including the overtime winner as the Edmonton Oilers edged the Arizona Coyotes 3-2 Saturday night.
“It’s good to get a win here; a building that we’ve struggled in for a long time,” McDavid said after the game. “Obviously, it would have been nice to get it in regulation, but we’ll take it anyway. Mikko (Koskinen) did his typical thing and held us in there until we got going.”
The Oilers have won four straight road games.
They’re seven points behind the Coyotes for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
McDavid opened the scoring shorthanded before the game was four minutes old. He blazed around Oliver Ekman-Larsson and lifted a shot past Darcy Kuemper. Alex Galchenyuk tied it late in the period with a power play goal.
In the second period, Matt Benning fired a shot right inside the post to score for the third straight game. Galchenyuk banged in a centering pass 14 seconds later to make it 2-2.
“Most of the goals that I’ve scored, the other forwards or defensemen have done all the work and I’ve just put myself in a good spot to shoot,” Benning said.
LISTEN BELOW: Matt Benning
Each team had a power play in the final ten minutes of the third, but neither could cash in.
In overtime, McDavid took a centering pass from Oscar Klefbom off his skate. The puck flipped up in the air and McDavid wristed it past Kuemper just as it hit the ice.
“We ask a lot of Connor (McDavid) and Leon (Draisaitl), and they deliver,” head coach Ken Hitchcock said. “They deliver most nights and they really delivered tonight. I was really proud of our effort today. It was a hard game against a very significant opponent.”
LISTEN BELOW: Ken Hitchcock
The Oilers, 32-32-7, will visit Vegas Sunday night.