Draisaitl leads Oilers to 3-2 OT win over Rangers


Devdiscourse News Desk | Updated: 12-03-2019 09:56 IST | Created: 12-03-2019 09:38 IST
Draisaitl leads Oilers to 3-2 OT win over Rangers
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Leon Draisaitl's one-timer 35 seconds into overtime gave the Edmonton Oilers a 3-2 win over the visiting New York Rangers on Monday. After giving up an early 2-0 lead, the Oilers escaped with two points thanks to yet another big performance from Draisaitl, who also collected two assists. Draisaitl has 33 points (18 goals, 15 assists) over his last 21 games, and has recorded at least one point in each of his last 14 games.

The victory brings Edmonton within five points of Minnesota for the final Western Conference wild-card spot. The Oilers are rounding into form for this final playoff push, with a 7-2-1 record over their last 10 games. New York remain 10 points back of Columbus for the final Eastern Conference wild-card spot. The Rangers now lead all NHL teams with 13 overtime losses this season.

Connor McDavid assisted on Draisaitl's winner, and also scored the game's opening goal on a first-period power play. McDavid extended his own points streak to nine games with his 34th goal of the season. Less than two minutes later, Matt Benning scored a goal from the point that was initially disallowed due to alleged goalie interference from Zack Kassian. A video review overturned the call, however, giving Benning his third goal of the season.

Despite the slow start for the Rangers, they recovered to play Edmonton evenly for much of the first two periods. Brendan Lemieux put New York on the board 11:29 into the second period, scoring on a partially-deflected wrist shot from just outside the near circle. Lemieux also assisted on the game's tying goal, when Brett Howden converted a rebound 1:33 into the third period. Howden hadn't scored since November 12, a stretch of 35 games for the center.

Mikko Koskinen saved 28 of 30 shots to win his fifth consecutive start. Koskinen was back in net for the Oilers after missing Saturday's game with the flu. Alexander Georgiev stopped 30 of 33 Oilers shots. Georgiev has a .942 save percentage over his last three outings, but has only an 0-1-2 record to show for his strong play. Oilers defenseman Oscar Klefbom didn't return to the game after being hit with a shot midway through the first period. Milan Lucic (lower-body injury) was out of Edmonton's lineup for the second straight game.

(With inputs from agencies.)

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