GAME RECAP: Oilers 5, Sharks 4 (OT)

EDMONTON, AB - Zach Hyman netted the game-winner in overtime and Philip Broberg notched his first NHL goal on Thursday night as the Edmonton Oilers erased three deficits to defeat the San Jose Sharks 5-4 in the penultimate game of their regular-season schedule at Rogers Place.
Hyman converted a one-timer from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins 1:37 into extra time for his 27th goal of the season, securing the sweep of the season series for the Oilers over the Sharks for the first time in franchise history.
Broberg's first NHL goal came halfway through the third period when the Swede sniped the tying goal over the right shoulder of San Jose Sharks netminder James Reimer off the feed from Connor McDavid, who now has 123 points on the season after recording his 79th assist of the campaign.
Mikko Koskinen made 40 saves on 44 shots to help the Oilers improve to 13-0-1 in their last 14 home games with one regular-season contest remaining versus the Vancouver Canucks on Friday.

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FIRST BLOOD

It was a less than ideal start when Koskinen elected to play the puck off an outside shot from Jonah Gadjovich to his left for teammate Broberg, but the Swede didn't pick up the feed as it went behind him before being scooped up by Sasha Chmelevski, who put it onto the blade of local product Noah Gregor's stick to wrist low blocker 2:42 into the game.
Just 26 seconds later, Gregor had his second of the game off another turnover when Thomas Bordeleau fed him down low before his cross-crease pass to Rudolfs Balcers struck the skate of Evan Bouchard and went five-hole on Koskinen. The Oilers were outshot 17-7 in the opening frame by San Jose.

PLAY OF THE GAME

Broberg aired out a clearance from the Oilers end to Hyman in the neutral zone before the winger connected a pass to Draisaitl for a 2-on-1 opportunity with Yamamoto. When pressure from the San Jose defence came from both sides, the German spun around and delivered an excellent backhand feed to Yamamoto, who snuck his 20th goal of the season under the arm of Reimer to tie the game at two with 8:08 on the clock in the middle stanza.

SAVE OF THE GAME

Zach Hyman and Leon Draisaitl each had good looks on goal during Edmonton's opening powerplay in the second period that were stopped by James Reimer, but the ensuing save from the San Jose netminder on Nugent-Hopkins in the slot was decisive in keeping it a two-goal game for a brief moment.
Reimer scrambled in his crease to get a piece of Nugent-Hopkins' clear-cut attempt with his shoulder and send the puck out of play for a whistle with a desperation save with 10:50 gone in the middle frame. It would be celebrated for a brief moment, as Ryan McLeod got the Oilers on the board seconds after the ensuing faceoff when he cleaned up a point shot from Bouchard that struck Kailer Yamamoto in front to make it 2-1.

PHILIP'S FIRST

You won't see many nicer first NHL goals than that one.
Freshly called up from the Bakersfield Condors and injected into the Oilers lineup on Thursday, Broberg picked the top corner on Reimer with 9:45 left in the third period to tie the game at a critical point of the contest with his first-ever goal in the League after McDavid dangled out of the corner and dished it to the Swede as he came down from the blueline. The 20-year-old had two assists in his previous 22 games with the Oilers this season and picked a good time to find the back of the net for the first time in an Oilers uniform.
"Connor made a really good play and I snuck down a little bit to try and get it on net and it ended up going in, so it was an unbelievable feeling for sure and it's always good to get the first one," Broberg said.

OVERTIME WINNER!

Hyman meshed the San Jose twine in extra time after Brett Kulak set Nugent-Hopkins up to feed the winger alone in the slot to rip the game-winner and his 27th goal of the season 1:37 into overtime. The deciding goal completed the fightback for Edmonton, who erased three deficits to win the game and earn the season sweep of the Sharks for the first time in franchise history.
"I just passed it up to Nuge, stepped up there and he gave it back," Kulak said. "I had some speed and just wanted to gain the zone and keep the play alive. I brought a couple of guys to me and just put the puck in space. He came down and made a nice heads-up play to Zach and he buried it."

PARTING WORDS

Broberg on being up and down this season and waiting for the first goal to come:
"I'm more focused on playing my own game and trying to help the team in any way I can. If I can score a goal, it's great. I'm happy for sure."
Broberg on his readiness to play playoff hockey in Edmonton if called upon:
"I'll always be ready to play if they want me to, so I feel ready physically and mentally. I'm good to go."
Broberg on his first NHL goal being assisted by McDavid:
"He's a great player and he made a really good play. For sure it feels good."

Broberg on celebrating the goal with Assistant Coach Dave Manson, who's played a big part in his development:
"A lot. He helped me a lot when I came down there after camp in Bakersfield. He helped me develop small stuff to work on, and I think I've taken a step with him during the year. For sure it felt good to share."
Kulak on Broberg's first NHL goal:
"It was a good read by him offensively to jump into the lane. It was nice for him to step down there and create the space. He a nice shot, head up, and picked his spot. He had the big smile coming through the line there, so it was good to see."
Kulak's thoughts on the game:
"I think it's one of those ones where we know we're not on top of our game fully. We can trust our process and go back to the simple things and then just keep chipping away at it. We've got lots of offence, we don't ever really have an issue scoring goals, so I think we kind of trusted it and stuck with it and ended up getting it done."

Kulak on the Oilers having characteristics teams need to have in the playoffs:
"I think so. I think the biggest thing that stands out for me in this group is the balance we have throughout the lineup. We've got a good mix of everything you need I think and there's a bit of that on every single line. I think that's going to be a winning formula for us just with the depth we have."
Coach Woodcroft's thoughts on the game:
"We found a way to win. Obviously didn't start the way we wanted to start tonight, but credit to our players. On a night where everything didn't fire on all cylinders, they found a way to win."
Coach Woodcroft on a concerning start and the Oilers finding a way to respond:
"It's the players. We didn't start the way we wanted to start. Our players, they said the right things on the bench. There was some small corrections that could be made. We started to skate a little bit better in the second period but still wasn't where we wanted to get to. We were a little better in the third. In the end, it was a game our players dug in and found a way to win that game."
Coach Woodcroft on Broberg recording his first NHL goal:
"It's special for him obviously, and a big goal at that. It was a tying goal and important at that point in the game. I'm sure he'll remember it forever, especially who passed it to him [McDavid]."

Coach Woodcroft on Kulak recording the assist on Hyman's overtime winner:
"When we think of people in those situations, you want smooth-skating, good-skating d-men. Bouchard and Barrie are quite capable of taking those shifts as well and even Broberg. I've seen in the American Hockey League him be involved in some really big overtime goals as well. I think Kulak earned that opportunity with his play. What a play by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to find Hyman like that, and what a great finish by Zach."