Draisaitl rockets home the OT winner to help Oilers defeat Canadiens
Leon Draisaitl slammed home the OT winner right from his wheelhouse to help the Edmonton Oilers defeat the Montreal Canadiens by a score of 3-2.
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Leon Draisaitl scores the @SUBWAYCanada OT winner for the Oilers! pic.twitter.com/WK5Zt9sas2
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) March 20, 2024
It was a game that must have been frustrating for the Oilers. The team held a 2-0 lead heading into the final frame before goals from Nick Suzuki and, hometown boy, Kaiden Guhle pulled the Canadiens even. The Edmonton powerplay stuttered in regulation, failing to capitalize on two late chances in the third period to prevent OT.
Luckily, it was on the tail-end of a four-minute PP in that extra period that eventually propelled the team to victory.
“We still had our looks today,” Draisaitl told media after the game. “Teams are obviously hyper-aware when we’re out there so it only gets harder and harder, but we stuck with it and eventually got one.”
That wasn’t the only feel-good story of the night for the Oilers. Trade deadline addition Adam Henrique was also able to find the back of the net for his first in an Oilers jersey and 19th of the season. It was far from a thing of beauty, but they all count at the end of the day.
The new guy’s nose was bloodied as a result of a high stick, but that didn’t seem to phase him post-game.
“I felt my game has been good,” Henrique told reporters. “We’ve had some high-tempo games and it felt good… certainly nice to get on the board.”
First as an Oiler for Adam Henrique āļø pic.twitter.com/oSiuqGRAEj
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) March 20, 2024
Connor McDavid had another great night, scoring a highlight-reel goal in the opening frame and getting an assist on the winning goal. His point total is now up to 108 on the season, still six behind Nikita Kucherov (114) for second in the league.
Who else? 9ā£7ā£ pic.twitter.com/ah4udkFwWW
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) March 20, 2024
It’s not the way the team would like to win down the stretch and this marks the second straight game in which they’ve blown a third-period lead. As the team preps for what they hope to be a lengthy playoff run, the Oilers still have areas of their game that they need to improve.
“We just weren’t as quick on pucks and [the Canadiens] won the races,” head coach Kris Knoblauch said after the game. “They had the puck a lot more than we did tonight.”
All Edmonton can do is hang up their helmets and be glad they were able to get the two points without playing to their standard. The two points will push them to 86 points on the season with a 41-21-4 record.
One thing is for certain, they will have to play better if they want to end their home-stand on a happy note on Thursday as a Buffalo Sabres team fighting for a playoff spot comes to town.
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