3 Takeaways From Oilers’ 4-3 Overtime Win Over Wild

Leon Draisaitl had a pair of goals as the Edmonton Oilers opened their five-game homestand by defeating the Minnesota Wild 4-3 in overtime at Rogers Place on Tuesday (Oct. 20).

Evan Bouchard and Mathieu Joseph also scored for Edmonton, while the Wild got one goal apiece from forwards Joel Eriksson Ek, Ryan Hartman, and Krill Kaprizov. The score was tied 1-1 after the first period, and Edmonton led 3-1 through 40 minutes.

Oilers netminder Devon Levi made 27 saves in a winning effort. Jesper Wallstedt stopped 28 of 32 shots between the pipes for Minnesota.

With the victory, Edmonton improves to 7-1-1 and remains second in the Pacific Division with 15 points. The Vegas Golden Knights sit atop the division standings with 17 points from a record of 8-3-0.

Power-Play Saves the Day  

Special teams were the difference in Tuesday’s game, as Edmonton went 3-for-5 with the man advantage while killing off all three of the Wild’s power-play opportunities.

The Wild were their own worst enemy, taking some terrible and untimely penalties that Edmonton capitalized on to the tune of three power-play goals.

Minnesota was well positioned to take a 1-0 lead into the first intermission when David Spacek and Matt Boldy took penalties less than a minute less than a minute apart from each other, giving the Oilers a five-on-three in the final moments of the opening period.

Draisaitl scored his first of the night on the man advantage at 19:57 of the first, tying the score before the break. Then, just 63 seconds into the second period, with Boldy still in the box, Draisaitl lit the lamp again to put Edmonton ahead.

After falling behind 3-1, the Wild made a spirited comeback in the third period to force overtime. But another forehead-slapping penalty would ultimately do them in.

Less than two minutes into 3-on-3 sudden death, Minnesota was caught with too many men on the ice, giving the Oilers their fifth power-play of the night. At 3:32 of the overtime, Bouchard took a pass from Connor McDavid and walked in short side before rifling a snapshot past Wallstedt who was powerless to make the save.

It was the 19^th game-winning goal of Bouchard’s career, breaking a tie with Paul Coffey for most by all-time by a defenceman in Oilers history. Not a bad way to celebrate a birthday for Bouchard, who turned 27 on Tuesday.

Levi Continues to Shine

If power-play production is the No. 1 reason that Edmonton beat the Wild, then the performance of Levi is a close second.

The 24-year-old netminder was fantastic yet again on Tuesday, posting a save percentage (SV%) of at least .900 with a goals-against average (GAA) under 3.00 for the fourth time in his last five starts.

According to Natural Stat Trick, high-danger chances were 21 to 13 in favour of the Wild, including 19 to 10 at 5-on-5. Minnesota’s expected goals for (xGF) was a whopping 5.37.

But Levi was up to the challenge, making several great saves. He was beaten twice, by Kaprizov and Hartman, in a span of just 2:37 during the third period as Minnesota erased Edmonton’s 3-1 lead, but those were both nice goals generated by a very good team that wasn’t going down quietly.

Overall, Levi deserves tremendous praise for his play. Since conceding seven goals on 22 shots in his Oilers debut against the Vancouver Canucks on Oct. 1, Levi has gone 4-1-0 with a 2.00 GAA and .931 SV%. He’s quickly emerging as Edmonton’s go-to guy between the pipes.

Top Heavy Production

In what has been the theme of pretty much every Oilers game this season, their superstar trio of Bouchard, Draisaitl and McDavid led the way on Tuesday. All three had multiple points, as Bouchard picked up an assist to go with his goal, and McDavid racked up three helpers.

Bouchard, Draisaitl and McDavid are currently producing at levels not seen in decades. Bouchard has seven goals and 11 assists, tying the record that Coffey set in 1988-89 for most points by an NHL defenceman through the first nine games of a season. McDavid has 26 points, the most by any NHL player through the first nine games of a season since 1986-87. And Draisaitl has eight goals and eight assists, making Edmonton the first NHL team to have three players with at least 16 points through the season’s first nine games since the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1995-96.

Those numbers are mind-blowing, but they mask a lack of depth production. More than half of goals so far this season have come from either Bouchard, Draisaitl, or McDavid. If forward Vasily Podkolzin is included, then the number jumps to nearly 70% of the team’s total goals, coming form just four players.

As incredibly gifted as the Oilers star players are, they can’t be expected to continue producing at this otherworldly level forever. Eventually they’re going to cool off, and Edmonton will need the slack to be picked up elsewhere.

On that front, there is very good news for the Oilers with the impending return of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. During his post-game media availability on Tuesday, Edmonton coach Mike Babcock said that the veteran forward is ready to return from injury and will make his season debut when the Oilers host the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday (Oct. 22). Game time against the defending Stanley Cup champions is 7 p.m. MDT at Rogers Place.