In San Jose, the Edmonton Oilers’ Connor McDavid hit for the game-winner on Tuesday with 31 seconds gone in extra time in a 2-1 decision over the Sharks.
“Our goalie makes maybe the play of the year there with that save [on Brent Burns] and having the presence of mind to throw it up there,” McDavid said. “‘Smitty’ plays the puck unbelievably well. He was so good all night. For that to happen, it was pretty special to be a part of that play.”
Mike Smith made 31 saves in the Edmonton win.
“I thought our team showed a little bit of resiliency,” Edmonton coach Jay Woodcroft said. “I didn’t think it was our smoothest game or cleanest game. But down by one heading into the third period, finding a way to win in overtime in dramatic fashion, it’s a credit to our stick-to-itiveness and the hard work of all those players in that dressing room.”
The Oilers improved to 41-25-5.
Tomas Hertl scored in the first period to give the Sharks a 1-0 lead. They held that through the middle of the third period.
“That’s one of our best, most solid games in a long time, and a little bit the story of our year,” San Jose coach Bob Boughner said. “We had so many chances. Smith plays great and you can’t get that second goal that you need and change the whole face of the game. And that’s a team that takes advantage of things. … But I will say, looking at the game itself, we did so many great things, and that’s encouraging. That was our best game we’ve played in a long time.”
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored in the third period to get the Oilers even, 1-1.
James Reimer made 22 saves in the Sharks loss.
“When you wake up [Wednesday], it will be nice to at least have gotten one point,” Reimer said. “I thought we battled hard, we played really well. Probably one of our better [games] in the last week. It just came down to OT. We had some looks and they had some looks and they ended up getting one extra.”
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