In Edmonton, Connor McDavid scored with 1:22 elapsed in extra time to give the Oilers a 4-3 win over the visiting New York Islanders.
The Oilers held an early 2-0 lead but squandered that in the fist period.
“We have been playing some good hockey, we just haven’t been finding a way to win the games,” McDavid said. “Tonight, we stuck with it all night long. I thought we were the better team all night, and we finally got rewarded at the end.”
Connor McDavid had the OT winner for Oilers – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
The Isles roared back from the early hole to take a 3-2 lead after the first period.
Oscar Klefbom scored with less than three minutes on the clock in regulation to help the Oilers get to extra time.
“We got away from the things that were making us successful,” Lehner said. “Today was up there for me, it was probably one of the hardest games I’ve had this year. It felt like they were in our zone for the whole game.”
Sam Gagner and Leon Draisaitl scored in the first period for the Oilers.
Mikko Koskinen made 20 saves to get the win.
“I was a little bit nervous when we went down 3-2 because we had played so well, and that’s the first time I saw a flatline from us in the last eight games,” Oilers coach Ken Hitchcock said. “Then you start to think, you’ve put in all this effort and there is no reward at the end. But we came back again, we stayed with it, we battled and clawed and scratched, and I think winning today can even take us to another level.”
Brock Nelson,Anders Lee and Cal Clutterbuck scored for the Isles.
“The important thing is getting the win,” Gagner said. “We’ve been fighting it a little bit, even though we have played some pretty good hockey. A lot of times you can fight through that and get a win and hopefully go on a streak here. That is our focus. This is a huge win for us and will give us some confidence.”
[WATCH: All Islanders vs. Oilers highlights]
Robin Lehner made 37 saves in the loss.
“It’s a point, but it’s sour,” Lee said. “We wanted to stop it at one (loss) and we were a couple of minutes from doing that. That’s been our M.O. this year, being able to bounce back from losses and bad games, ones we haven’t been able to play well in. We’re usually able to rebound and get things back on track.”
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