Draisaitl, Oilers top Bruins in OT

EDMONTON -- Leon Draisaitl scored 37 seconds into overtime to give the Edmonton Oilers a 3-2 win in their home opener against the Boston Bruins at Rogers Place on Thursday.

Connor McDavid intercepted a lead pass from Brad Marchand before setting up Draisaitl for a one-timer on a 2-on-1.
"Connor made a really nice play going around the one guy," Draisaitl said. "With him, you have to be ready for the puck and able to get it off your stick quick. It was a good play by him. We know what we like to do in overtime."
WATCH: [All Bruins vs. Oilers highlights]
David Krejci and David Pastrnak scored, and Jaroslav Halak made 19 saves for Boston (4-2-1), which has lost its past two games (0-1-1).
"I thought we played well enough to win," Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said. "We went down to the wire and they made a play. Their best player, with a good backcheck, picked off a pass and from there we were kind of holding our breath hoping we'd get out of it, but he made his play so full marks to him for that."

Kailer Yamamoto and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored, McDavid had two assists and Cam Talbot made 27 saves for Edmonton (3-2-0), which has won three straight.
Krejci scored at 11:17 of the second period to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead, receiving a cross-ice pass from Danton Heinen and scoring past Talbot from low in the right circle. Heinen returned to the lineup after being a healthy scratch the past two games.
Yamamoto scored his first NHL goal to tie it 1-1 at 13:24. Adam Larsson sent a stretch pass to Yamamoto at Boston's blue line, where he spun away from Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy and scored over Halak's shoulder.
"It was an unbelievable pass by Larsson," Yamamoto said. "I just tried to spin off and got free and tried to go upstairs and luckily it worked. It feels even better than I thought it would. Words can't even describe it. It was an unbelievable feeling."

Nugent-Hopkins scored on the power play at 7:33 of the third period to give the Oilers a 2-1 lead. He got the puck after McDavid's initial pass to Milan Lucic ricocheted off the end boards and scored into an open net.
"That was a lucky play. I don't think that was a set play, but they got a goal and I thought we responded well at the end," Halak said. "We got a goal back and kept it in their zone and we just couldn't bury one in. And in overtime, they just made a good play. If you give them a chance, they will most likely score."
Pastrnak tied it 2-2 at 11:26, receiving a pass from Brad Marchand from behind the net and beating Talbot glove side from the high slot.
"Starts are going to have to be better," Oilers coach Todd McLellan said. "Midway through the second we were really going, got some saves, but we still have work to do, there's no doubt about it. We have to get four lines that are capable of creating and maintaining momentum."

They said it

"It was a good rebound game. We definitely played better hockey [than the 5-2 loss at the Calgary Flames on Wednesday]. We didn't have a great second, but the first and third was pretty good. We battled our way back in and got a point, so it was a better game than last night." -- Bruins forward Brad Marchand
"These last couple of games, there have been some really good signs. That's what winning teams do, they find a way to win games. We did that tonight." -- Oilers center Leon Draisaitl

Need to know

McDavid has factored in on 11 of the 13 goals Edmonton has scored this season (four goals, seven assists). … Pastrnak has 11 points (eight goals, three assists) in a six-game point streak. … Boston's top line of Pastrnak, Marchand and Patrice Bergeron have combined for 36 points (16 goals, 20 assists) in seven games this season. … Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara played a team-high 24:21 in his 900th game with Boston. … Nugent-Hopkins has seven points (two goals, five assists) in the past three games.

What's next

Bruins: At the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday (10 p.m. ET; SN1, CITY, NESN, NHL.TV)
Oilers: Host the Nashville Predators on Saturday (10 p.m. ET; CBC, FS-TN, NHL.TV)