David Pastrnak scored the game-winner on a breakaway in overtime, giving the Boston Bruins a 2-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers Wednesday night at Rogers Place.
Boston’s Patrice Bergeron netted the only goal of the first period, beating Oilers goaltender Mike Smith on a breakaway with a forehand deke.
The Oilers were fortunate to get out of the first period as the Bruins earned a 10-2 advantage in shots.
“It’s a valuable point for us, but I think the thing we want to learn from that game is having a little swagger early on,” Oilers forward Sam Gagner said after the game.
“Making plays and having confidence with it in the first period would have set us up a little better, but we clawed our way to a point, and there’s a lot to like about the last two periods and the way we played against a really good team.”
Smith made several big saves on Bruins power plays in the second period. Boston netminder Tuukka Rask was also strong in the Bruins’ net. His best save was a pad stop on Gagner in the final minute of the second.
Bergeron had two glorious chances to extend the Boston lead in the first minute of the third. He fired a shot wide with most of the net staring at him, then was robbed by Smith in tight.
”He takes a lot of the forecheck out of their game,” Oilers defenceman Ethan Bear said of Smith. “Even if it’s just getting a stick on the puck, he moves it for us and we don’t get hit as much.
“He’s definitely a good asset.”
The Oilers finally struck on the power play with 16:18 to go. Gagner deftly pulled off an aerial high-slot deflection of Bear’s point shot.
With 2:30 remaining, Pastrnak was sent off for tripping Edmonton’s William Lagesson, but the Oilers couldn’t find the go-ahead goal with the man advantage.
“It was a crazy game,” Oilers forward Josh Archibald said. “It’s been a long time since there was that many power plays in a game that we played in, but I thought both teams did great.
“We got a power play goal late in the third that was huge for us and got some huge kills late in the game. I think that was also important.”
In overtime, Pastrnak took a pass from David Krejci and went in alone on Smith. He went to his backhand and slid home his 43rd goal of the season to end it.
“That was a playoff-style atmosphere and we need to be comfortable in those games. I felt like we were,” Gagner said.
“There’s a lot of positives to take from it, it’s just early on having that confidence and swagger and knowing that we can play with anybody, regardless of what’s going on here.”
The Oilers (32-21-7) went 7 for 7 on the penalty kill and 1 for 6 on the power play. They’ll host Minnesota on Friday.
–With files from 630 CHED’s Brenden Escott and Kyle Morris
Watch below: Some videos from Global News’ coverage of the Edmonton Oilers’ 2019-20 season.
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