Good teams find ways to win, and the Edmonton Oilers are no exception.
On Thursday evening, they hosted the Boston Bruins, overcoming a 2-0 deficit to win 3-2 in overtime. It was the first time since the 2018-19 season the home team won the game in the season series between Boston and Edmonton.
Just one minute into the game, the Bruins took the lead as Elias Lindholm’s shot from the half board found a hole to beat Stuart Skinner. This was the second consecutive game in which Skinner hasn’t closed off the post well enough, as he was beaten in the game against the Florida Panthers on Monday.
The Oilers netminder didn’t have much of a chance on the second goal late in the first period, as Bruins forward Mark Kastelic made a nice move to get around Troy Stecher, beating Skinner on his backhand.
With just under nine minutes left in the second period, Zach Hyman scored with a broken freakin’ nose. The puck popped out of the corner, and Hyman one-timed it past Jeremy Swayman, who wasn’t ready for the shot. This was Hyman’s eighth goal in seven games.
The best player in the world, Connor McDavid, scored a late goal with just under two and a half minutes left, as Draisaitl stole the puck in the neutral zone, and passed it to Hyman, who found McDavid on the wing. McDavid did McDavid things, cutting in and burying the puck past Jeremy Swayman.
Thankfully, the Oilers were able to end it early in overtime, as Draisaitl was seemingly going for a line change, changed his mind, and shot the puck on the 2-on-1. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins picked up the loose rebound and passed it over to the late Mattias Ekholm, who buried it past Swayman for the win.

Takeaways…

The Oilers didn’t have a great first period. They were outshot 11-5 with limited high-danger scoring opportunities. At one point, the Bruins were outshooting the Oilers 8-1, not a great start that put them in a hole early.
Edmonton’s best period this season has been the second period and they once again had a strong middle frame. On top of the Zach Hyman goal, the Oilers outshot the Bruins 10-7 and mostly dominated play. A big reason for that was Kris Knoblauch putting Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl together.
The third period was similar to the first period, as the Bruins suffocated the Oilers. Both the Bruins and Panthers games were frustrating in different ways. It felt as if the Oilers beat themselves against the Panthers, while they weren’t able to string together two good shifts in Thursday evening’s game. Fortunately, the Oilers have Connor McDavid, who tied the game late in the final frame.
Linesman Travis Toomey was hit in the hand by a Draisaitl dump-in during the first period. At the next stoppage, he left the game and didn’t return. At the start of the first period, the Oilers broadcast noted he had broken his hand.
Viktor Arvidsson returned for the first time in 16 games and had a rough first period. He blocked a shot to the arm and was later finished hard into the boards in the first period. Thankfully, he remained in the game, but it’d be nice if he could stay healthy to get his game going.
Fellow free agent signing, Jeff Skinner, was placed on the fourth line alongside Mattias Janmark and Corey Perry. Skinner, who scored 35 goals just two seasons ago, just seems not to be a fit on the Oilers 32 games into the season. The problem is, his one-year deal comes with a no-move clause and without ever playing a National Hockey League postseason game, it’s hard to see him waving it. Hopefully, he will perform in the playoffs.
Stuart Skinner had a good game between the pipes, saving 24 shots on 26 opportunities for a .923 save percentage. It was a good bounce-back game for the 26-year-old netminder after the disaster that was Monday’s game, as he played quite well after the second goal against.
The Oilers had a tough stretch of five games, facing five playoff teams: the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Minnesota Wild, the Vegas Golden Knights, the Panthers, and the Bruins. Their early Christmas gift is a much easier back-to-back, facing the San Jose Sharks on Saturday at 2 PM MT and the streaking Ottawa Senators on Sunday.
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