The Edmonton Oilers are back in the win column.
After two frustrating losses at home to the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs, the Oilers hit the road for a back-to-back against a pair of non-playoff teams in the Western Conference, the St. Louis Blues and Chicago Blackhawks.
Connor McDavid opened the scoring in St. Louis on Tuesday evening with a power play goal in the first frame. It took until the third period, but the Blues finally answered. Mattias Ekholm was called for interference and Jordan Kyrou capitalized on the ensuing advantage. A few minutes later, Colton Parayko put the home team up 2-1 with his 12th goal of the season.
With just a few minutes left on the clock, the Oilers were staring down the barrel of dropping three consecutive games for the first time since stumbling out of the gate at the beginning of the 2024-25 season. Fortunately, the team’s top players came to the rescue, as McDavid fed Leon Draisaitl for a one-timer that knotted the score at 2-2.
The Oilers had a game-tying goal called back on Saturday in their loss to the Leafs, so scoring this one against the Blues and going to overtime felt like a win in itself. A couple of minutes into the extra three-on-three frame, McDavid ripped through the Blues’ zone and found Connor Brown for the winner.
“I think we dipped a little bit there for a little while. It wasn’t our best, but obviously, good teams find ways to win hockey games at all times,” Draisaitl said after the game. “To come back from that obviously shows a lot of character.”
Edmonton carried the play for much of the game and appeared to be on their way to a 1-0 victory on the road before the Blues were handed their only power play opportunity. The Oilers threw 38 shots on St. Louis goaltender Jordan Binnington and he was rock-solid in turning aside 35 of them for a .921 save percentage. Stuart Skinner made 20 stops on 22 shots for his 20th win of the season.
“I think their goaltender kept them in it and then they played better as the game went on in the third period,” Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said. “Stu made some great saves to keep us in it, and the turning point was the power play goal that they got. But your best players come up big with some huge plays… so it was good that we stuck with it. We’ve seen that a lot this year.”
Beating teams lower than them in the standings is key for the Oilers as they battle for the top spot in the Pacific Division. The Vegas Golden Knights lost to the New York Islanders in regulation time on Tuesday, so the Oilers are two points clear on their rivals with one game in hand.
That game in hand will be played right away as the Oilers head to Chicago to face the basement-dwelling Blackhawks for the second leg of this back-to-back on Wednesday night.
