Draisaitl, Oilers defeat Ducks in OT
EDMONTON, Alberta -- Leon Draisaitl scored with 1:44 left in overtime to lift the Oilers to a 3-2 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday.
The Oilers snapped a two-game home losing streak and won for only the second time in their last seven games on Rogers Centre ice.
Edmonton killed a penalty to behind the overtime, and then Draisaitl was Johnny-on-the spot to slam home a pass from defenseman Andrej Sekera.
Cam Talbot made 31 saves for the Oilers.
The Oilers nursed the lead into the third period but it came undone at 9:42. Rickard Rakell scored his 10th goal of the season, firing a loose puck into an open net after a scramble in front.
Just before the goal, Sekera had his stick knocked out of his hands, and got caught behind his own net as Rakell tied the game 2-2.
Edmonton's Connor McDavid, the NHL's leading scorer, had his seven-game point-scoring streak snapped.
The first period featured very few scoring chances -- the shots were only 8-7 Oilers. The frustrated home fans booed the Ducks, who, with 20 seconds left, chose to play defenseman-to-defenseman passes in their own zone to kill the clock.
The second period, entertainment-wise, was a major improvement.
Just after the four-minute mark of the second, the game finally saw its first great point-blank scoring chance: Ducks goalie John Gibson stretched his pad to rob the NHL's leading scorer, Connor McDavid, in his bid to give the Oilers a lead.
It didn't take much longer for the Oilers to get that opening goal, though. Drake Caggiula struck on the power play at 5:17 of the second period, taking a great cross-ice pass from former Duck Patrick Maroon and whistling a wrist shot past Gibson.
It was Caggiula's first NHL goal.
The Ducks answered at 9:28 of the second when Ryan Kesler wrapped the puck around Talbot's pad. The goal came just 10 seconds after Oilers defenseman Adam Larsson went to the box for hooking.
Right off the ensuing faceoff, Edmonton's Milan Lucic and Anaheim's Jared Boll fought.
The bout looked to spark the home team as Ryan Nugent-Hopkins's wrist shot eluded Gibson at 13:35 to give the Oilers a 2-1 lead.
NOTES: The Ducks begin a road-heavy December, with 11 of their 15 games this month being away from Anaheim's Honda Center. ... Oilers D Darnell Nurse will be out long term with a lower-body injury, coach Todd McLellan said Saturday morning. Edmonton GM Peter Chiarelli is expected to give an update on Nurse's status Sunday. ... The Oilers recalled D Dillon Simpson from their AHL affiliate in Bakersfield, Calif., to fill Nurse's roster slot. ... D Mark Fayne drew into the Oilers' lineup, his first appearance since Oct. 18. ... The Oilers scratched Simpson, C Matt Hendricks and RW Jesse Puljujarvi. .... The Ducks scratched D Korbinian Holzer and RW Chris Wagner.