Oilers would rather play with the lead than rely on late-game heroics

Edmonton Oilers players celebrate the win over the Ottawa Senators in overtime NHL action, in Edmonton on Tuesday, March 3, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson

EDMONTON — Some more late game heroics have given the Edmonton Oilers a spark in the midst of what has been a tough stretch.

Leon Draisaitl had two goals and three assists and Evan Bouchard scored the overtime winner as the Oilers overcame a two-goal deficit through 40 minutes to emerge with a badly-needed 5-4 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday.

With Brady Tkachuk in the penalty box for tackling Connor McDavid in overtime, Edmonton got it back to Bouchard and he blasted in his 18th goal of the season for the come-from-behind win.

“We did a good job in the third of putting them on their heels and keeping it fairly simple,” Draisaitl said. “We just needed two plays and it ended up working out for us. But we have to be careful not to be in those situations too many times. You can’t keep chasing games going into the third, it’s not a recipe for success.

“At this time (of year) you take any point you can get, and there are a lot of positives, for sure, but there are also still some things that we need to clean up.”

The Oilers tied the game with just 1:25 remaining in the third period and their goalie pulled as Zach Hyman tipped a Draisaitl pass under Ottawa goalie Linus Ullmark for his 25th of the season to send the game to extra time.

“We need to keep the puck out of our net, obviously, but when we are down, we have the firepower to come back,” Hyman said. “We don’t want to be putting ourselves in that position like we have been of late too often.

“But sometimes you need a game like that where you can come back and it’s a complete team effort to dominate a third period and win a game. I thought it was a good one for us and hopefully a springboard for better games.”

Edmonton outshot Ottawa 12-3 in the third period and overtime.

“We know we can come back against any team,” said Bouchard, who not only leads all NHL defencemen with 71 points, but moved into a tie for 10th place in overall scoring. “It’s not what we want to do, we want to be playing with the lead. But it’s good to know to stay confident, that we have the guys that can get us back in it.”

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins also scored and McDavid had two assists for the Oilers (30-24-8) who had lost five of their previous six outings.

“We’re not coming off this game patting ourselves on the back,” said Hyman of his team knowing that they could have played better. “We’ve been to the finals two years in a row, we know what it takes. We know what type of hockey you have to play.

“Having said that, the positive is that we know that we can come back in high-scoring games and there’s going to be some of those, but if you want to be successful you’ve got to keep the puck out of your net. I think we’re capable of that, we just have to do it more often and consistently.”

It was Edmonton’s first home game in an entire month.

Draisaitl recorded his seventh career five-point game amid some other milestones.

The German Olympic team captain passed Jari Kurri (1,043) for third on the franchise’s all-time points list. He also recorded his 301st multi-point game, passing Mark Messier for third most in Oilers history, behind Wayne Gretzky (472) and teammate McDavid (362).

Oilers rookie Matt Savoie picked up an assist to extend his points streak to a career high four games, with seven points in that span.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 4, 2024.

Shane Jones, The Canadian Press