GAME RECAP: Oilers 3, Canadiens 2 (OT)

EDMONTON, AB – Leon Draisaitl lifted the Oilers to a 3-2 overtime victory over the Canadiens, scoring with 15 seconds left on an extended four-minute power play in sudden death to secure the Blue & Orange the extra point on Tuesday night at Rogers Place.

Montreal managed to fight their way back and force overtime with two goals in the third period through Nick Suzuki and Kaiden Guhle after Connor McDavid's 26th goal of the season and Adam Henrique's first goal with the Oilers gave Edmonton a 2-0 lead through 40 minutes.

The Oilers power play couldn't convert its first three opportunities before Joel Armia took a double-minor for high-sticking on Henrique in the final minute of regulation, leading to an extended five-on-four power play that was finished off when Draisaitl one-timed his 34th season past Montreal netminder Sam Montembault with 1:48 left in overtime.

Mattias Ekholm was a valuable contributor in the victory with two assists, while Calvin Pickard notched his 10th win of the season with 23 saves to improve his record this season to 10-4-0.

The Oilers wrap up their four-game homestand on Thursday night when they face off against the Buffalo Sabres at Rogers Place.

FIRST PERIOD

Sam Carrick fired up the Oilers bench early with an exchange of punches against Michael Pezzetta inside the neutral zone, drawing his second fighting major since being acquired by the Blue & Orange inside the game's opening three minutes.

The centre is averaging two hits per game with Edmonton and has 145 hits on the year, ranking second overall on the Oilers behind Evander Kane (210), but the 32-year-old's biggest impact in addition to scoring in Saturday's 3-2 defeat to Colorado is inside the face-off dot, where he was 64.7 percent (22-of-34) since being acquired from Anaheim before the trade deadline with Adam Henrique.

"Carrick not only the fight, but I thought he was so good with the puck tonight," Knoblauch said. "There were a lot of times we were in the defensive zone where the puck's on his stick and a lot of guys would panic, but I thought he made a lot of really good plays to get us out of trouble and we used him on the face-offs for a lot of key situations, the penalty kill, and he won a couple in the defensive zone. So it's nice having that kind of role with our team."

When it comes to goalscoring, Connor McDavid has been at the cutting edge for his entire career, and the Oilers captain cut through the Canadiens with an incredible deke that opened the scoring 9:20 into the first period.

Mattias Ekholm earned credit for the assist by pinching from the blueline and poking the puck off Josh Anderson's along the half-boards, leading to McDavid picking up a loose puck at the top of the left circle and winding his way around former Edmonton Oil Kings defenceman Kaden Guhle before cutting back inside on Montembault and tucking home his 26th goal of the season.

The Oilers had to kill off a tripping penalty to Darnell Nurse with just over four minutes left in the opening frame, but despite the Canadiens striking the post on the man advantage, Edmonton's penalty kill came out of it with their first big stop of the game to keep it 1-0 through 20 minutes.

SECOND PERIOD

After it was Carrick who found the scoresheet for his first Oilers goal on Saturday night, it was Adam Henrique's turn on Tuesday.

The forward was parked around the Canadiens' crease with just over five minutes left in the middle frame when Ekholm picked out another terrific pass to his backhand from the left circle, giving No. 19 an easy tap-in for his 19th goal of the campaign and his first in an Oilers uniform.

"I've felt like my game's has been good," Henrique said. "Of course, you want to score coming into a new team and that sort of thing, and you want to find ways to contribute. But I think for me, the focus is that you want the complete game to be there. We've had some high-tempo games, and I felt great in those games and making sure I'm adjusting well to the systems, and the guys have done a great job talking to me through everything."

Along with Ekholm, who picked up his second point on the play, Evan Bouchard recorded his 50th assist of the season with the secondary helper on Henrique's tally, making him the second defenceman in Oilers history with 50 or more assists in a single season alongside his assistant coach Paul Coffey, who did so six times over his Hall of Fame career.

THIRD PERIOD

The Habs were given a lucky break only 28 seconds into the final frame when captain Nick Suzuki crashed the net on Juraj Slafkovsky's net-bound pass that was meant for the blade of his stick, but instead was able to sneak five-hole after Suzuki inadvertently redirected it past Pickard with his left skate.

Edmonton's power play failed to convert on their second opportunity which came before the three-minute mark before a hooking call on Leon Draisaitl halfway through the man advantage sent us to four-on-four, where Tuesday night's large contingent of Canadiens fans in the stands – along with some sentimental Oil Kings supporters – would soon be cheering a Montreal equalizer.

Former Oil Kings blueliner Kaiden Guhle flew up the ice on the rush and beat Pickard over the left pad with a wrist shot for his fourth goal of the campaign that tied the game at 2-2 with more than three-quarters of the third period remaining.

"Credit to them for not giving up," Knoblauch said. "They get a bit of a lucky bounce on the first goal driving the net and it goes off a skate, but unfortunately, we just weren't as quick on pucks and they won the races. They had the puck a lot more than we did tonight."

Montreal would control the majority of the final frame despite a slender 7-5 shots advantage in the period that would last only until the final three minutes, where Edmonton was given a pair of power plays and the chance to win it with their overdue man advantage that was 0-for-2.

The Canadiens killed off David Savard's hooking penalty on Evander Kane, but only 15 seconds after the infraction ended, it was Joel Armia who was unable to manage his stick before it came in contact with Adam Henrique's face, leading to the officials reviewing for a double-minor high-sticking penalty that would be confirmed.

"Just kind of a wild play," Henrique said. "Three guys kind of coming together and just catching a stick. Fortunately enough, everything's okay up there and we'll take it for the man advantage there at the end."

Armia's mistake would put the Oilers on an extended five-on-four to win the game, with overtime and nearly the whole four minutes of power-play time being required.

OVERTIME

You just knew with an opportunity like that, the Oilers power play would cash in when it mattered most.

"That first face-off is key, and I have a lot of respect for Suzuki," Knoblauch said. "I think he was taking most of them, maybe Evans a few of them, but when you don't start with the puck, it makes it a little more difficult. And what I liked about our power play is that we had our opportunities to win the game at the end of the third period, but most of the overtime guys stuck with it and came up big with the goal."

With only 15 seconds left in Armia's double-minor, McDavid weaved his way into the slot and fired a backward pass to Leon Draisaitl in his regular office inside the right circle, where the German teed up the winning goal and his 34th of the season at 1:42 of overtime.

"Not necessarily [how we drew it up], but we stuck with it and obviously got a little fortunate in overtime there, so we'll take it," Draisaitl said.

"We still had our looks today, but we know teams are obviously hyper-aware when we're out there, so it only gets harder and harder. But we stuck with it and eventually got one."