GAME RECAP: Blues 3, Oilers 2 (OT)

ST. LOUIS, MO – The Edmonton Oilers couldn't come up with the victory on Monday night in a 3-2 overtime defeat to the St. Louis Blues, who earned a valuable extra point in their playoff push as they pursue one of the two Wild Card spots in the Western Conference.

Brandon Saad came off the bench in overtime for a breakaway and slid the game-winner under Stuart Skinner 2:09 into the extra frame after Leon Draisaitl tied the game in the third period with his 39th goal and 99th point of the season that was set up by Connor McDavid.

Brayden Schenn scored twice in the victory for the Blues, who move to within three points of the Los Angeles Kings for the final Wild Card spot with seven games left in their regular-season schedule.

Stuart Skinner stopped 26 of 29 shots for the Oilers in the defeat, while Mattias Ekholm extended his point streak to five games with a goal and an assist.

The Oilers see their three-game win streak come to an end and will continue their push for first in the Pacific Division on Wednesday when they take on the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center.

FIRST PERIOD

Skinner started the Oilers off with three important stops early against the Blues, who were hoping to take an early lead on home ice and protect a lead in hopes of keeping their slim playoff hopes alive.

Former Oil Kings forward Jake Neighbours found the first Grade-A chance just over a minute into the game, picking up a puck that struck the skate of Connor McDavid in the neutral zone before dangling around Mattias Ekholm and forcing Skinner into making a pad stop on a partial breakaway.

The Oilers netminder denied Colton Parayko twice in close a few minutes later and then again on Jordan Kyrou during an off-man rush, keeping the Blues off the scoresheet before his team limited St. Louis' offence the rest of the way to only two shots.

The hard work of Edmonton's fourth line winning puck battles and forcing turnovers helped produce their first goal past the seven-minute mark when Connor Brown worked it to Ekholm at the top of St. Louis' zone for a forceful one-timer that beat Jordan Binnington clean through traffic for the 1-0 Oilers lead.

The goal marked Ekholm hitting the 40-point plateau for the second time in his career, while extending his point streak to five games (2G, 5A) that are part of a 10-game stretch where the Swede's scored five times and added nine assists with a +14 plus-minus. His +41 plus/minus this season ranks second in the NHL only behind Florida's Gustav Forsling (+46).

Assists on Ekholm's goal gave Brown his fifth point (3G, 2A) in his last eight games and Carrick his fourth point (1G, 3A) in his last seven.

The Oilers looked to have made it 2-0 on Evander Kane's high deflection for his first goal in 19 games, but the referees waved it off for a high stick to keep it 1-0 through 20 minutes.

SECOND PERIOD

April Fools was no joke for the Oilers in the second period, finding themselves on the wrong end of two challenges and taking five minor penalties as the Blues battled their way back into the game.

"It was a long game," Skinner admitted. "I think the refs had a couple tough choices to make, and sometimes the game kind of happens like that. You've just got to do your best to keep momentum in some way, but momentum wasn't on our side today."

Nugent-Hopkins looked to have tucked away his 18th goal of the season five-hole on Binnington six minutes into the frame before a brush of the netminder's pad on the way through by Zach Hyman was challenged for goaltender interference by the St. Louis bench, ultimately overturning Nuge's effort 6:11 into the period.

The Blues were on the power play two minutes later when Schenn beat Skinner on a one-timer as Alexey Toropchenko screened the Oilers goaltender in front, seemingly catching a piece of Skinner on its way through before the netminder motioned to the referee and his own bench for potential goaltender interference.

"I felt like he kind of stuffed me in the pad... He's a pretty tall guy, so the shaft didn't allow me to get my blocker down to the puck," Skinner said. "I understand [the referee's] point of view because you can't really see underneath my blocker, but it kind of catches my hand and I'm not able to make a save. But I mean, that's the game. There are tough calls to be made, and sometimes they don't go your way."

The Oilers understandably challenged but were unsuccessful, putting themselves back on a penalty kill that became an extended five-on-three for 1:11 where they were able to keep the Blues' power play from picking up another before the intermission.

After being limited to six shots in the opening period, the Blues outshot the Oilers 17-14 in the middle frame.

THIRD PERIOD

Knowing what was at stake for the Blues in the playoff race, Brayden Schenn was determined to do whatever it took.

The seven-time 20-goal scorer for St. Louis finished off his second of the night on a two-on-one with Kasperi Kapanen 1:44 into the final frame to give the hosts a 2-1 lead that would last until the final six-and-a-half minutes of regulation.

Connor McDavid made another captain's move with a great play along the wall against Colton Parayko before firing a pass to the far post for Leon Draisaitl, who tied the game with his 39th goal and 99th point of the season.

A great block by Parayko on Ekholm's last-gasp chance at the end of the third period sent the game to overtime, where both sides this season have been very good with identical 10-4 records.

OVERTIME

After a missed change by Ryan McLeod at the Oilers bench, Saad came right on for a breakaway and slid the winning goal five-hole on Skinner 2:09 into the final period, giving the Blues a much-needed point in their push for the playoffs.

"I think we lost momentum in the second period. I think we gained it back in the third, and then in overtime, I thought we just kind of made a mistake and I wasn't able to bail a guy out," Skinner said. "And that's work for everyone to do, I honestly think the way the game went, we gave up a couple of odd-man rushes that kind of took us apart – especially for them to get the lead in the third period.

"But besides that, we showed our maturity. We came back. I didn't get a shot for the rest of the period after that goal it kind of felt like, and then we get back 2-2 and we get a point out of it. So a lot of credit goes out to the guys in front of me and how hard they battled just to get a point."

The win puts the Blues just three points back of the Kings for the second Wild Card Spot in the Western Conference with seven games to go following LA's loss in Winnipeg tonight.