McDavid's point streak ends at 13, Oilers fall to Sabres in shootout

BUFFALO -- Connor McDavid had his point streak end at 13 games in the Edmonton Oilers' 3-2 shootout loss to the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center on Saturday.

The Edmonton captain had 29 points (two goals, 27 assists) during the streak.

Alex Tuch scored the deciding goal in the shootout, and Tage Thompson and Jacob Bryson scored for the Sabres (30-30-5), who ended a three-game skid (0-2-1). Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 30 saves.

"He's been big the last what, 30 (games)? The whole season for all that matters," Bryson said of Luukkonen. "He's been unbelievable and he's been kind of our rock back there. He made a lot of big saves tonight and as a [defense] corps, we can always trust him. He's good at playing the puck, he's good at basically everything, so he's got good numbers and there's good reason for that."

Warren Foegele and Ryan McLeod each had a goal and an assist, and Stuart Skinner made 25 saves for the Oilers (38-21-3), who have lost two in a row after a five-game winning streak.

"I think we just had a lot of opportunities maybe in the third to add to our lead, and if we get up to a two-goal lead, it's probably a little bit different game where we can sit back," Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch said. "I thought in the third period, up until they got the goal, I thought we defended really well. I didn't think they had very much shots or offensive zone time. I thought we played it really well and unfortunately, they get that opportunity and changes the game."

Owen Power appeared to win it for Buffalo with two seconds left in overtime, but the goal was overturned after video review showed Tuch was offside.

"That was a rollercoaster -- there's no other way to explain it -- of emotions," Sabres coach Don Granato said. "I thought that our guys worked their way back into that game. Lot's gone on in the last few days. Lots of different guys in different positions in the lineup. We had some challenges very early in the game against a very good hockey team. It took us a while to dial it in and it could have went the other way at any moment. … In the process of it, you had to really hunker down, fight, even fight the psychology of things over the last few days and all of that made it a little bit more emotional."

Bryson tied it 2-2 at 11:39 of the third period, picking up a loose puck at the blue line before scoring.

"I saw the puck kind of laying there and kept it in and did the best I could to get it and things worked out," he said.

Ryan McLeod scored 29 seconds into the first period to give Edmonton a 1-0 lead. Leon Draisaitl sent a backhand pass from the slot to McLeod at the goal line, where he one-timed it between Luukkonen's arm and the right post.

Foegele completed a give-and-go on a short-handed rush, lifting the puck over Luukkonen's left pad to make it 2-0 at 14:19.

"I thought we played a solid game, maybe gave up a couple too many chances or looks, but we just couldn't find that third one to get some insurance," Draisaitl said. "That's really the game."

Thompson cut it to 2-1 on the same power play at 15:35 when he batted the puck from one knee in the slot, beating Skinner five-hole.

"I thought we had a good first, created a lot of chances," Foegele said. "I thought 'Stu' played a [heck] of a game too; he made a lot of big stops. Yeah, frustrating when you have that lead and you don't come with the win, but the good thing is, we've got a game tomorrow (at the Pittsburgh Penguins), quick flight here to regroup and then focus on tomorrow."

NOTES: Draisaitl played his 700th NHL game; he has 826 points (338 goals, 488 assists). With his assist, Draisaitl reached 50 assists for the sixth time in his career. The only other Oilers players to have at least 50 assists in a season are Wayne Gretzky (nine times), Jari Kurri (nine), McDavid (eight), Mark Messier (seven) and Paul Coffey (six). … McLeod scored within the opening 30 seconds of a game for third time this season, the sixth player in NHL history to do so at least three times in one season. … Luukkonen, who allowed two goals or fewer for the ninth time in his past 12 games, has a 2.42 goals-against average in 40 games (37 starts) this season. … Sabres forward Jordan Greenway did not play because of an undisclosed injury sustained in a 4-2 loss to the Nashville Predators on Thursday.