A sweep of the NHL from Wednesday night starts in Edmonton, where the Oilers played tough and smart but still lost, this time to the Chicago Blackhawks in overtime, 4-3.
Marian Hossa picked up the game-winner just over one minute into the extra session.
“[Crawford’s save on Hall] obviously kept us in the game,” Hossa said. “That was an unbelievable save, a highlight save. That’s why we won the game. Even though the game was almost over with a few minutes left, that kind of save gives a boost to the bench, and when you are up on the next shift, that definitely gives you an extra boost.”
Corey Crawford stopped Taylor Hall in OT to save Hawks – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
Corey Crawford made a sensational save on Edmonton’s Taylor Hall ahead of the game-winner.
“That was a great save,” Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said. “It was a great push [across], great anticipation by [Crawford], and it got us an extra point. It was good to get a win starting this trip, but give them credit, they were all over us in the first period, and we got it going a little bit in the second, but that might have been the only stretch where we liked how we were playing.”
Jordan Eberle, Benoit Pouliot and Leon Draisaitl scored for the Oilers; Draisaitl’s goal tied it late in regulation.
“For me, and if I say this, it’s probably going to come out , it felt like a win, because we were able to come back and finally get it to overtime,” Oilers coach Todd McLellan said. “And in overtime, the way it goes, 3-on-3, anything can happen. We got our chance, they got their one, and it went in the net for them.
“The group played well as a team. We still have to find a way to prevent one goal a night and we’ll win those games. But the overall performance is one I thought we could be happy with. But the results are something we can’t be satisfied with.”
In Detroit, the visiting Washington Capitals skated off with a 2-1 win over the Red Wings in extra time.
Evgeny Kuznetsov scored a goal 45 seconds into the extra session to give the Caps the win.
“Just go hard to the net. … That’s all I’m trying to do, go to the net,” Kuznetsov said.
Braden Holtby backstopped Caps to OT win over Wings – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
Justin Williams scored in regulation for the Caps and Braden Holtby made 25 saves for the win.
“[Kuznetsov] in overtime has been outstanding. … You give him some time and space and he’s pretty good,” Capitals coach Barry Trotz said. “He has that deceptive skating style. It doesn’t look like he’s moving his feet, but he’s going faster all the time.”
Dylan Larkin scored for Detroit and Petr Mrazek made 25 saves in the loss.
“In the third, I thought that we were the stronger team,” Trotz said. “… We [hit] three crossbars tonight. We had a hard time finding the back of the net.”
Alex Ovechkin was held off the scoresheet for the fourth straight game and remains tied with Sergei Fedorov for most goals by a Russian player.
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