Connor McDavid scored the lone goal of a shootout as the Edmonton Oilers collected a 3-2 win over the visiting Nashville Predators on Thursday.
The Oilers earned their third consecutive win despite trailing in all three contests. The Predators twice led against Edmonton, but goals from McDavid and Evan Bouchard equalized during regulation.
Mikko Koskinen stopped 28 of 30 shots for his third consecutive win.
Nashville saw its three-game win streak end, though the Predators earned a point thanks to a huge night from goaltender Juuse Saros.
Edmonton outshot Nashville by a 46-30 margin, but Saros made 44 saves to keep his team afloat. Saros has played his best against heavy pressure this season, producing an 7-0-2 record when facing at least 38 shots in a game.
Nashville’s Filip Forsberg logged a goal and an assist for the third game in a row. Matt Duchene scored the Predators’ other goal.
Just over five minutes into the game, Forsberg put Nashville ahead with his team-leading 22nd goal of the season. Forsberg’s wrist shot from the edge of the circle found its way through traffic to beat Koskinen.
It was the 11th straight game the Oilers have allowed the first goal, yet a great individual effort from McDavid equalized things just 32 seconds before the first intermission. McDavid took the puck almost the full length of the ice and beat Forsberg and Matt Benning along the way before scoring his 21st goal of the season.
Duchene restored the Predators’ lead at 8:32 of the second period, sniping a shot off the post for his fourth goal in his past three games.
The Oilers again evened things up later in the period, as a Bouchard point shot took two defections off Nashville players and spun past Saros at 14:48.
Neither team managed another goal during the third period and overtime, despite some close chances at either end. The Oilers’ Darnell Nurse almost decided things at the 1:11 mark of overtime, but his shot rang off the goalpost.
–Field Level Media
