Evan Bouchard scored twice in a three-point outing and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins collected four assists as the host Edmonton Oilers claimed a 4-3 victory over the Minnesota Wild on Friday to extend their winning streak to six games.
Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl each notched one goal and one assist for the Oilers in the back-and-forth affair. Edmonton goaltender Stuart Skinner made 17 saves, more than half of them in the third period.
Bouchard joined Paul Coffey as the only Oilers defensemen ever to post a 10-game point streak, a feat Coffey accomplished nine times. Bouchard has compiled four goals and 11 assists during his run.
McDavid has collected 21 points (five goals, 16 assists) in an eight-game spree.
Matt Boldy netted one goal and one assist, while Joel Eriksson Ek and Connor Dewar also scored for Minnesota. Brock Faber and Marcus Johansson both recorded two assists, and goalie Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 36 shots.
Bouchard broke a 3-3 tie 92 seconds into the third period when he unloaded a point shot on the power play for his second of the game and seventh of the season.
The Wild were unable to find the equalizer, and they have now lost two straight following a four-game winning streak.
Bouchard opened the scoring at 15:16 of a one-sided first period by firing a top-shelf shot from the right circle.
After being outshot 18-4 in the opening frame, the Wild responded with a pair of goals 26 seconds apart in the first minute of the second period.
Boldy tied the score 15 seconds into the frame with his sixth goal of the campaign. Then, Eriksson Ek converted a one-timer for his 13th of the season. The two tallies came within the first 41 seconds of the frame, the second-fastest two goals to start a period in franchise history.
McDavid responded 40 seconds later with a highlight-reel goal in which he zoomed around seemingly everybody and tucked the puck into the net as he was actually going behind it. The result was his ninth goal of the season.
Dewar restored the Wild’s lead with his sixth of the season at 11:58 of the second, but Draisaitl’s power-play goal, his 11th tally of the season, tied the game 3-3 with 90 seconds remaining in the middle period.
–Field Level Media
