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Instant Reaction: Overtime winner from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins leads Oilers to win over Utah
Edmonton Oilers
Photo credit: Christopher Creveling-Imagn Images
Ryley Delaney
Nov 30, 2024, 00:27 EST
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For the first time in franchise history, the Edmonton Oilers played in Salt Lake City and walked out with a 4-3 win in overtime.
It brings their season record to 12-9-2, and while they still sit outside a playoff spot, the Oilers are 6-3-1 in their last 10 games.
The Hockey Club opened the scoring just over six minutes into the first period, as Kevin Stenlund forced a turnover off Connor McDavid’s stick, leading to a 2 on 1. A quick pass over to Alexander Kerfoot, and Utah was up 1-0.
With just under three minutes left in the first period, Logan Cooley picked up his fifth goal of the season to give the Hockey Club a 2-0 lead, picking up a loose rebound and forcing the puck by Calvin Pickard.
Things turned around in the second period for the Oilers though. Midway through the second (and the game), Vasily Podkolzin scored his second of the season in the second consecutive game, electing to shoot on a 2 on 1 and beating the Hockey Club’s netminder five-hole.
The Oilers tied it on the power play with six minutes left in the second, as the puck took a bounce off a Hockey Club player and found its way to Leon Draisaitl, who had a wide-open net to tie the game. He isn’t missing from there.
Shortly after the game-tying goal, the Oilers returned to a power play, and with seven seconds left on it and just over three and a half minutes left in the second, McDavid scored his 12th of the year with a snipe from the slot.
Four minutes into the third period, Lawson Crouse tied the game. Although the Oilers outshot the Hockey Club 17-9 in the final frame, they were unable to secure the game-winning goal despite a late power play, sending the game to overtime.
It was there that the struggling Ryan Nugent-Hopkins found his game (hopefully), as the longest-tenured Oiler stick lifted a Hockey Club player, sending him on a breakaway, beating the Hockey Club netminder with a nice shot blocker side to give the Oilers the win.

Takeaways…

Leon Draisaitl scored his 17th goal of the season, moving into sole possession of second place in the league, one behind Florida Panthers forward Sam Reinhart. Connor McDavid scored his 12th goal of the season and is also approaching the top 10. Overall, it was a tough game for the Oilers captain as he was a -3, the worst of any player in Friday’s game.
Vasily Podkolzin may not be putting up massive numbers on the stat sheet, but he’s quickly becoming an important player in the top six. Still, it’s nice when he finds the back of the net like he did for the second consecutive game. Newcomer Kaspari Kapanen played on the top line, going -2 with a hit.
Calvin Pickard had a sneakily good save late in the game, picking up 28 saves on 31 shots for a .903 save percentage. That doesn’t tell the whole story though, as the Hockey Club peppered him with 22 shots through two periods while the Oilers only had 12. Stuart Skinner plays tomorrow against the Colorado Avalanche.
The Oilers’ penalty killed off their last 17 penalties and haven’t allowed a goal in eight games. That’s the most games in a row without giving up a penalty kill goal all season. Moreover, the power play seemingly got going as well, as they scored two goals on it for the first time this season.
All seven goals in this game were scored on the same net (the broadcast’s right net, none on the left). The Hockey Club scored their three goals in the first and third periods, while the Oilers scored their four goals in the second and overtime periods. This doesn’t really matter, but it’s a fun fact nonetheless.
Edmonton’s next game is another back-to-back game, as they head to Denver to take on the Colorado Avalanche at 8:00 PM MT on Hockey Night in Canada. This season, the Oilers are 1-3-0 in the second game of a back-to-back, hopefully they can buck that trend.
If you enjoy my content, you can follow me on Bluesky @ryleydelaney.bsky.social.

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