The Edmonton Oilers have turned everything around since the arrival of Kris Knoblauch at the helm of the team, increasingly establishing themselves as serious contenders for major honors. The Montreal Canadiens were able to see this on Tuesday, even if they offered serious opposition.
Leon Draisaitl broke the tie on a power play in overtime in favor of the local favorites and the Montreal team lost 3-2 after erasing a two-goal deficit.
Connor McDavid and Adam Henrique also scored for the Oilers, who avoided defeat in regulation time in their last five meetings. Calvin Pickard made 23 saves.
The Alberta club also has a 38-12-3 record under Knoblauch’s leadership and has collected 79 points since its first victory on November 13, more than any other team in the National Hockey League.
Nick Suzuki and Kaiden Guhle allowed the Habs to come back from behind, but the effort was not enough to avoid a third consecutive defeat and a fifth in six games.
After taking advantage of a day off during his team’s last match, Samuel Montembeault was back in front of the Bleu-Blanc-Rouge cage, stopping 28 pucks, including five in overtime. He has lost his last five meetings and his last victory dates back to February 27.
The Canadiens head coach, Martin St-Louis, missed a second game in a row for family reasons. Trevor Letowski replaced him again on Tuesday.
It was the second game of a five-game trip out West for the Canadian. He lost 5-2 to the Calgary Flames on Saturday and will return to action against the Canucks on Thursday in Vancouver. He will then visit the Seattle Kraken on Sunday, then the Colorado Avalanche next Tuesday.
An unexpected rise
Clashes are rare between the two teams since they do not play in the same association. Seeking to set the pace, Canadian forward Michael Pezzetta and Oilers forward Sam Carrick threw down the gloves during the first minutes of play.
A few minutes later, Joel Armia took advantage of the first good chance to score by hitting a bouncing puck into the slot. Pickard had to signal himself with a sharp save with the tip of his left pad.
McDavid, however, once again demonstrated the extent of his talent with an individual effort at 9:20 of the first period. Mattias Ekholm forced Josh Anderson into a turnover before handing the puck to McDavid, who skillfully beat Guhle and Montembeault in turn. It was his 26e goal of the campaign.
McDavid almost doubled his team’s lead a few minutes later by deceiving Montembeault’s vigilance between the pads. Guhle, however, managed to clear the puck before it entered the net.
The Canadian got his first opportunity on the power play at the end of the period and was unable to tie the game.
The visitors had the better chances in the second half, forcing Pickard to flag. He was particularly solid in front of Rafaël Harvey-Pinard, well placed near his semi-circle, when Brendan Gallagher sent the puck into the fray.
Adam Henrique then scored his first goal in an Oilers uniform at 14:55 of the period.
Evan Bouchard started the sequence by spotting Ekholm to his left, then Ekholm handed the puck to Henrique in the slot. The latter managed to push the puck into the net despite coverage from David Savard.
Henrique was acquired from the Anaheim Ducks on March 6 in a trade also involving the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The Canadian was able to keep hope alive thanks to Suzuki after 30 seconds of play in the third. The puck deflected off the captain’s skate as he came in front of Pickard’s net. Suzuki then registered its 27e goal of the campaign, a new personal high for him.
Moments later, Guhle scored with a precise shot into the top right corner.
Armia nevertheless received a double minor penalty with 27 seconds left in the third and Draisaitl took advantage of it to make the difference in the overtime period.
Quebec Oilers defenseman Vincent Desharnais did not take part in the meeting. He fractured a finger fighting against Josh Manson of the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday.