Oilers defeat Islanders on McDavid goal in OT

EDMONTON -- Connor McDavid scored 1:22 into overtime to give the Edmonton Oilers a 4-3 win against the New York Islanders at Rogers Place on Thursday.

McDavid took a pass from Leon Draisaitl and beat goalie Robin Lehner with a backhand to end Edmonton's five-game losing streak.
"We have been playing some good hockey, we just haven't been finding a way to win the games," said McDavid, who missed a 3-2 shootout loss to the Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday because he was ill. "Tonight, we stuck with it all night long. I thought we were the better team all night, and we finally got rewarded at the end."
WATCH: [All Islanders vs. Oilers highlights]
Oilers defenseman Oscar Klefbom tied the game 3-3 with 2:52 remaining after Lehner kicked away Milan Lucic's shot on a rush down the right wing.

"We got away from the things that were making us successful," Lehner said. "Today was up there for me, it was probably one of the hardest games I've had this year. It felt like they were in our zone for the whole game."
Draisaitl had a goal and an assist, and Sam Gagner scored his first goal since being acquired in a trade Feb. 16 by Edmonton (25-29-6), which trails the Minnesota Wild by six points for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference. Mikko Koskinen made 20 saves.
"I was a little bit nervous when we went down 3-2 because we had played so well, and that's the first time I saw a flatline from us in the last eight games," Oilers coach Ken Hitchcock said. "Then you start to think, you've put in all this effort and there is no reward at the end. But we came back again, we stayed with it, we battled and clawed and scratched, and I think winning today can even take us to another level."

Brock Nelson had a goal and an assist, Anders Lee and Cal Clutterbuck scored, and Lehner made 37 saves for the Islanders (35-18-7), who were coming off a 4-2 loss at the Calgary Flames on Wednesday. New York leads the Washington Capitals by two points for first place in the Metropolitan Division.
"It's a point, but it's sour," Lee said. "We wanted to stop it at one (loss) and we were a couple of minutes from doing that. That's been our M.O. this year, being able to bounce back from losses and bad games, ones we haven't been able to play well in. We're usually able to rebound and get things back on track."
Draisaitl scored on the power play at 5:12 of the first period to give the Oilers a 1-0 lead.
Gagner converted a cross-crease pass from Tobias Rieder at 6:30 to make it 2-0. Edmonton traded forward Ryan Spooner to the Vancouver Canucks for Gagner, who played for the Oilers from 2007-14 after they selected him with the No. 6 pick in the 2007 NHL Draft.
"The important thing is getting the win," Gagner said. "We've been fighting it a little bit, even though we have played some pretty good hockey. A lot of times you can fight through that and get a win and hopefully go on a streak here. That is our focus. This is a huge win for us and will give us some confidence."
Lee made it 2-1 at 12:57, scoring on his own rebound.

Nelson scored on a two-man advantage at 19:21 to tie it 2-2, and Clutterbuck gave the Islanders a 3-2 lead on the power pay at 19:49.
"A slow, sloppy start. We just sat back too much," New York coach Barry Trotz said. "We haven't lost too many times three or four games in a row. You've just got to stop the bleeding in the next game. The next game's the most important. This one's done."

They said it

"When you spend 30 or 40 seconds playing defense, you just get it and chip it out and you get it off, and that really allows them to quickly get the puck and get back into our zone. That really allows them to sustain pressure, and that's what every team tries to do to each other, and they did a really good job on that." -- Islanders forward Anders Lee on being outshot 17-6 in the third period
"It is easy to get frustrated when you play well but don't get any points out of it. Today was a good night for us to get a lot of confidence and a boost. I think we did a lot of good stuff. It feels very good to get two points." -- Oilers defenseman Oscar Klefbom

Need to know

The Islanders were 9-0-0 in the second game of back-to-backs before losing Thursday. ... New York defenseman Ryan Pulock had two assists and has seven points (three goals, four assists) in his past eight games. ... McDavid, who had an assist on Draisaitl's goal, has 25 multipoint games this season. He trails Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov (29) and Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane (26) for most in the NHL. ... Draisaitl extended his point streak to five games (four goals, three assists).

What's next

Islanders:At the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday (10 p.m. ET; CITY, SNE, SNO, SNP, MSG+, NHL.TV)
Oilers: Host the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday (10 p.m. ET; CBC, SNW, PRIME, NHL.TV)