GAME RECAP: Oilers 4, Rangers 3

NEW YORK, NY – The Edmonton Oilers scored four goals in the third period for the second straight night on Friday to earn a 4-3 comeback victory over the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden and complete the sweep of back-to-back games before the holiday break.

"You don't get very many come-from-behind wins in the third period when you're trailing," Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said. "It's very difficult to win those games and we were able to do that twice and back-to-back, so that's even less likely.

"I liked our guys' perseverance. They've worked hard and stuck with the game plan, and they deserve a nice little break for Christmas. We're looking forward to getting started again."

Zach Hyman notched his team-leading 19th goal of the season to break a shutout streak of 108:43 for Rangers goalie Jonathan Quick against Edmonton and begin a three-goal stretch of 3:29 for the Oilers where they turned a one-goal deficit into a two-goal lead.

Evander Kane and Warren Foegele scored consecutively to end their respective five- and seven-game goalless droughts and lift the Blue & Orange into a 3-1 lead before Ryan McLeod extended the advantage with his third goal in his last two games, which ultimately ended up as the game-winner with 10:08 remaining in regulation.

The Rangers tacked on two tallies from Mika Zibanejad and Will Cuylle to make it 4-3 – including a late consolation with 0.1 seconds on the clock – but the four-goal explosion from the Oilers over the final 20 minutes did its part in making sure they head into the holiday break with a .500 win percentage (15-15-1).

Stuart Skinner played exceptionally to pick up his 12th victory of the season with 31 saves on 34 shots, including a terrific stick-shaft save on Zibanejad early in the second period on the penalty kill that helped keep it 1-0 for the Rangers during a goalless but action-packed middle stanza.

The Oilers will resume their regular-season schedule on Dec. 28 when they begin a three-game road trip through California against the San Jose Sharks.

FIRST PERIOD

Figuring out Jonathan Quick this season was proving to be a challenge for the Blue & Orange, and for the entirety of the NHL as well.

The 37-year-old was 9-0-1 in 10 starts with the Rangers coming into Friday night as he settles into a backup role behind Igor Shesterkin. But lately, he's been playing like the prime version of himself from when he won two Stanley Cups with the Los Angeles Kings in the 2010s.

Quick shut out Edmonton with 29 saves in a 3-0 victory back on Nov. 28 at Rogers Place and was back playing brilliantly at the world's most famous arena after keeping the Oilers off the board in the opening frame.

Zach Hyman came closest for the Oilers in the opening period when their leading goalscorer took a wide route around a Rangers defenceman and lifted a shot-side shot that struck the right post in the first five minutes.

Stuart Skinner was called into action soon after by making a sharp save on Mika Zibanejad as the game seemingly began to open up, but the Oilers netminder wasn't able to do much about the sweet piece of skill from the Rangers forward that led to the Blueshirts' opening the scoring at 8:57 of the frame.

Zibanejad redirected Chris Kreider's angled pass off the low boards in front to an unmarked Blake Wheeler, who buried the open chance for the 1-0 lead after Zibanejad's deft change of direction left Skinner and his defenceman looking the other direction.

The Oilers received their first penalty in more than 60 minutes of action when Ryan Nugent-Hopkins backhanded the puck over the glass with 21 seconds left in the opening period. Still, Draisaitl had the best opportunity to score before the intermission when his wrist shot with seven seconds left sailed just wide of Quick's far post.

SECOND PERIOD

It wasn't the prettiest middle frame, but the action was certainly there – along with Edmonton's opportunities to equalize on two separate power plays.

The puck appeared to be bouncing all over the ice at Madison Square Garden in erratic fashion, leading to plenty of broken plays and offence going both directions over an interesting middle frame that finished with no goals despite a heavy 14-11 shot total in favour of the Rangers.

The Oilers still had 1:19 of time left to kill on Nugent-Hopkins' delay of game penalty to begin the second period, and it was Skinner making a terrific stop on Zibanejad after the Swede fluttered his shot onto a wide-open net before Skinner got to it with the blocker to keep it 1-0 early in the period.

During their post-game interviews, the assessment of Skinner's impact on the game from his teammates was uniform.

"Stu kept us in that game," Foegele said. "They were pressing hard that first ten minutes of the second. You need that if you're going to win games and he was awesome tonight."

"Stuart gave us an opportunity to win tonight," added Coach Knoblauch. "I thought we were very flat in the first period and starting the second, he held the score down to just one against and made some really big saves. We were able to build a game and played much better in the second half of the game, but it wouldn't have been possible without Stuart's saves that he made."

At the other end of the ice, Quick continued to stifle the Oilers with 11 saves in the frame – including seven stops over two power plays in the second half of the period – to maintain New York's one-goal lead through 40 minutes.

The Oilers were once again in a trailing position heading into the third period despite deserving much better at that point of the game, but this is a resilient group that's only getting stronger.

"I think a lot of resiliency; not changing. I think that's been something that we've been working on for years as an organization," Skinner said. "You can really see that we're coming along and we're really mature about the game and we play the same way – even if we're down one goal or up five."

THIRD PERIOD

We all remember what happened last time on Broadway.

Last November, the Oilers trailed 3-0 at Madison Square Garden heading into the third period before Evan Bouchard potted a pair of goals and Dylan Holloway netted his first in the NHL to help lead the Blue & Orange to a thrilling 4-3 comeback victory.

When Hyman floated a backhand over Quick at 3:07 of the final frame on this occasion, it finally ended the netminder's stellar shutout streak against Edmonton at 108:43 of action and set the stage for another thrilling Oilers comeback over the Blueshirts.

"They came out hard and they're a fast and big team and didn't give us much room," Knoblaiuch said. "As the game went on, we started to give ourselves some more room to make plays, but I like that we stuck with it. Obviously in the third period, that was our strongest push and we were able to wrap up the trip."

After Derek Ryan pulled back a faceoff win, Kane was able to scrape his 13th goal of the season and his first marker in five contests after his second attempt on net from inside the slot managed to make its way through the five-hole of Quick after catching a piece of the stick of defenceman Braden Schneider.

"Yeah, it's nice to get in the score sheet," said Kane, who played 14:00 alongside Mattias Janmark and Derek Ryan on Friday. "In limited minutes, I thought our line did a good job. Ryan was great in the faceoff circle and obviously, Janny doing what he does best kind of up and down and getting pucks out of the corners there down low. We were able to find one, o that was nice."

Foegele took a drop pass from McLeod in the neutral zone and broke across the New York blueline before cutting to the middle and snapping his fifth goal past Quick inside the far post just 2:19 later, quickly lifting the Oilers into a 3-1 advantage with his first goal in seven games.

"That one just felt nice to finally go in," Foegele said. "I think the shift before I just hit one right off the post, and the season's long, so sometimes you get bounces and sometimes you don't. It just felt nice to finally contribute."

McLeod was a critical contributor for the Oilers over both games of their back-to-back and produced his second straight multi-point game by finishing off a pass from behind the net by Foegele after the winger nearly notched his second goal of the night on a 2-on-1 with Draisaitl.

"Leon's an exceptional player and one of the best in the league. He'll always be making plays," Knoblauch said of the Foegele, McLeod and Draisaitl line. "But I think with Fogele and McLeod, the speed and just creating a lot more turnovers; and also with their speed, it's pushing the defence back. It gives Leon a little more room to make those plays, especially entering the offensive zone. But right now, they're just working hard and they're capitalizing on their chances."

The 24-year-old's fifth goal of the campaign ultimately proved to be the game-winner after Mika Zibanejad cut the lead to two on the power play before Will Cuylle beat the buzzer to make it 4-3 with 0.1 seconds remaining.

"It started with keeping it simple," Foegele said of the victory. "It happened yesterday where we just stayed composed and once we got one, the momentum just continued. The Guys are hopping over the bench, taking pucks to the net and it was a great team effort by the guys and we're happy to get the win."