Evan Bouchard scored 3:10 into overtime to give the Edmonton Oilers a 4-3 win over the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena on Thursday night.
Connor McDavid won a face-off in the right circle and fed Bouchard, who skated into the high slot and beat goalie Adin Hill blocker side. The winner came just eight seconds after Edmonton killed off a Vegas power play.
“Massive kill since I was the one in the box,” Oilers forward Zach Hyman said. “Not easy, obviously.”
McDavid finished with a goal and two assists. Hyman and Matt Savoie also scored for Edmonton. Connor Ingram made 26 saves.
The Oilers led three times but had to answer the Golden Knights each time before Bouchard ended it. Coach Kris Knoblauch said the team is starting to look like a playoff group.
“Things matter, things like attention to detail,” Knoblauch said. “The games are so important right now that everyone seems like they’re dialed in.”
Edmonton improved to 36-28-9 and sits second in the Pacific Division, five points behind the Anaheim Ducks, who also won Thursday. With nine games left, Hyman said every point carries extra weight.
“It’s hard to gain points when there are only nine games left,” he said. “A big win for us to stay ahead.”
Mark Stone scored twice and Ivan Barbashev added a goal and an assist for Vegas, which has lost five of its last six games. The Golden Knights sit third in the Pacific, two points behind Edmonton and three ahead of the Los Angeles Kings.
“Let’s put ourselves in the dance,” Stone said. “We played a pretty good 5-on-5 game. Our problem is that we’re making some big mistakes. That’s just what we got to clean up.”
McDavid also reached a historic milestone on the night, becoming the third-fastest player in NHL history to record 800 assists, doing so in 785 games. Only Wayne Gretzky (527 games) and Mario Lemieux (661 games) reached the mark faster.
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