For all Montreal Care, Connor McDavid might well have scored a dozen goals on Monday night, not just the one he struck for in extra time.
The Canadiens lost to the Edmonton Oilers, 4-3, in overtime.
“You could definitely get a sense of their desperation,” McDavid said. “But that’s a great thing for us, to be able to play a team like this with their desperation, with their intensity level tonight. That’s how it’s going to be moving forward so that was a good test for us, and good for us to keep our playoff mindset going.”
The loser’s point was enough for the Habs who clinched the fourth playoff spot in the North, and eliminated the Calgary Flames, officially.
Artturi Lehkonen forced extra time with a late goal to tie the game, 3-3.
“We were pretty confident we were going to clinch this by either this game or the next game,” Lehkonen said. “But now that we’re done we’ve just got to keep building on toward the end of the season.”
Mikko Koskinen made 25 saves in the win.
Jake Evans got the Canadiens going with a goal in the opening frame for a 1-0 lead.
“I think all three of us, our line, was pretty excited for the challenge,” Evans said. “Our line together has worked well in the past and I think we like our speed, our grit, and how hard we are on the forecheck. So to get that opportunity, I was excited, I wasn’t nervous, and I love those opportunities.”
James Neal, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Dominik Kahun scored for Edmonton in regulation.
All in all we played a fairly solid road game,” Oilers head coach Dave Tippett said. “We gave up a couple of chances on outnumbered breaks, one of them, the last goal was a tough goal. But we were just trying to get a bunch of guys minutes and play solid, and we were all right.”
Paul Byron also scored for the Habs.
“We had a tall task tonight and it was great to see everybody just pushing so hard in the third period to try and get the equalizing goal,” Byron said. “It was a great team effort.”
Jake Allen made 31 saves in the loss.
“I thought as a team, the third period we pushed the pace a lot better than we were in the second and the first, so it was good to see us get rewarded with that goal,” Byron said.
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