Oilers defeat Golden Knights, 3-2, in OT

In Las Vegas Saturday, the visiting Edmonton Oilers got an early third period goal from Drake Caggiula to tie their match with the Golden Knights and then held on to force extra time.

In the overtime session, with just 53 seconds gone, Darnell Nurse ended the game with a goal to give the Oilers a hard fought 3-2 win.

“I saw the puck come over the blue line, and [Drake Caggiula] had it and we saw one [defenseman], so I just took off,” Nurse, a defenseman, said. “He made a great play to the middle and all I had to was shoot it hard.”

Patrick Maroon also scored for the Oilers in regulation.

“You just have to work,” Connor McDavid said. “[Vegas works] so hard up and down the ice. It’s a skating man’s game when you play these guys, so you’ve got to be prepared. I just know we work hard, compete with them, skate with them.”

Edmonton improved to 20-23-3 with their second straight win.

Cam Talbot, made 34 saves to get the win, a game after being pulled in a game with the Arizona.Coyotes.

“Heading into the break we knew we needed a good effort, especially against a team that hasn’t lost much in this building,” Talbot said. “I made some big saves early and was able to control the pace of the game and kind of ease my way into it, and then made a few big saves down the stretch when we needed it.”

Reilly Smith and William Karlsson scored for the Knights who have not suffered a regulation since late November.

“[Edmonton is] a good team,” Karlsson said. “Obviously struggling this year, but they have some talented players. I don’t know why we lost two against them. I think it was pretty even today. I think it could’ve gone either way. It was just their day, I guess.”

Vegas dropped to 29-10-3 with the loss.

“The resiliency from our team, it wasn’t a Picasso, but playing back to back against a team that plays with that type of pace, the amount of energy we had to expend on the penalty kill … it was a scramble night and we found a way to scratch and claw our way to a win,” Oilers head coach Todd McLellan said after the win.

[WATCH: All Oilers vs. Golden Knights highlights]

Marc-Andre Fleury made 27 saves in taking the loss.

“It was a tight game. I don’t think there were a lot of Grade A chances. Both goalies played well, but I think they wanted it a little more than us and that’s why they won the game,” Vegas’ Pierre-Edouard Bellemare said after the loss.