GAME RECAP: Bruins 3, Oilers 2

EDMONTON, AB - Leon Draisaitl notched two power-play goals to pull the scoreline back to 2-2 midway through the third period, but Matt Grzelcyk's late marker with 2:33 left in regulation sank the Edmonton Oilers to their fourth-straight defeat on Thursday night in a 3-2 loss to the Boston Bruins at Rogers Place.
Draisaitl helped orchestrate a comeback with his two tallies on the man advantage, and both Connor McDavid & Tyson Barrie added two assists for the Oilers, who outshot the Bruins 43-30 in a losing effort to fall to 16-9-0 on the season.

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FIRST BLOOD

For all the discussions around revitalizing a league-leading Oilers powerplay that had cooled off in its previous four games, it was a less-than-ideal start.
The ageless Patrice Bergeron broke up a pass on the Bruins blueline and sauced the puck to centre ice and a flying Brad Marchand, who took the shorthanded breakaway with speed and went forehand to backhand past Skinner for the opening tally just inside the final four minutes of the opening period.

PLAY OF THE GAME

Patience on the powerplay was preached pre-game by the Oilers, and patience was rewarded multiple times. Draisaitl one-timed his 23rd goal of the season and second tally of the night top shelf over Linus Ullmark midway through the third period when the German connected on McDavid's feed from down low from a ridiculous angle to tie the game at 2-2.

SAVE OF THE GAME

Ullmark made an acrobatic double save on Warren Foegele with the Oilers searching for an equalizer six minutes into the final frame. The Swede stood up Foegele's first attempt when the Oilers forward picked up a bouncing puck at the top of the right circle before making a barrel-roll robbery on the second attempt much to the chagrin of Foegele.

TURNING POINT

The Bruins found their second wind late in the third period, pressing hard for the go-ahead goal in the Oilers zone and getting rewarded when Matt Grzelcyk found time at the top of the left circle to wire the eventual game-winning tally with just 2:33 on the clock in regulation.

TOP PERFORMER

Draisaitl's two-goal game extended his lead atop the NHL goalscoring race to 23 tallies, growing his point total to 23 goals and 22 assists in in 25 games. McDavid added assists on both Draisaitl power-play goals to equal his Oilers counterpart with 16 goals and 29 assists in 25 games, with the helpers leading the League.

PARTING WORDS

Draisaitl on the consolation of two stronger performances despite the four-game losing streak:
"I think the last two games probable could've gone either way. I thought tonight we were the better team, but that's the NHL> We've won games too where we got outplayed, so we've just got to find a way to keep that last one out of the net and then take it into overtime to give ourselves a chance at some point."
"I thought our powerplay was alright, but if we get this into overtime, we give ourselves a chance at least at a point. That's a big step when you've lost three in a row, so that's the way it goes when you're slumping. You find a way to lose these kind of games, so you've got to find a way to get out of it."
McDavid on the team's struggles to produce at 5-on-5:
"Honestly, I liked lots of our 5-on-5 game tonight. I thought we generated some chances, but we gave up a couple and couldn't find a way to get one. I thought we carried the play a lot of the night at 5-on-5. Sometimes it goes in, sometimes it doesn't. If we continue to do the right things like we are, it's going to start to go."

Head Coach Dave Tippett on plenty of shots and a good performance tonight, but no victory:
"We did enough things to win tonight, and not win. We've got to continue to pound away at it. You can't let the frustration get you. Our powerplay came back and got us a couple after we gave up an early shortie. Just lots of try around the net, but we've got to find a way to capitalize on some chances."
Tippett on Kris Russell's injury that forced the defender out of the game in the second period:
"I talked to him in between periods there and it didn't look very good. I haven't got a full update on it yet, but I've got a feeling he's going to miss some time."