EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Connor McDavid scored 4:34 into overtime and also had two assists to rally the Edmonton Oilers to a 3-2 win over the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday night.
Zach Hyman scored twice to give him 40 for the season as Edmonton won its second straight. Stuart Skinner finished with 30 saves.
Late in the extra period, McDavid danced past a couple of defenders before chipping a shot past Binnington for his 22nd of the season to snap a 10-game goal-scoring drought. He had 25 between goals.
“There was no one to pass to,” McDavid said, laughing about having to put the puck in himself. “There was not much going on that play. I just tried to get it to the net somehow and fortunately that went in.”
Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch was glad to see his star player finally get another goal.
“The timing was excellent,” Knoblauch said. “He’s been doing everything but scoring and he’s been on the scoresheet two, three times almost every single night through that stretch. And wow, what a goal he provided in overtime.”
Robert Thomas and Pavel Buchnevich scored for the Blues, who have lost three straight and five of six. Jordan Binnington had 31 saves.
“Tough back-to-back for us, getting in late and playing a team that is so fast and dynamic,” Thomas said. “I think we did a really good job, I don’t think we can be upset with ourselves, we were in that game right to the end, we did a ton of good things and had our chances.”
Binnington said McDavid’s overtime goal was a tough one to allow, but there were still plenty of positives on the night.
“He went wide and kind of chipped it back far side and it kind of got a lot of my jersey, which is kind of weird, but sometimes bounces go like that when a guy works that hard, it happens,” he said.
The Blues had a terrific start to the game, scoring on the first shot just 2:19 in. Awarded an early power play when the Oilers’ Leon Draisaitl was sent off for high-sticking, Thomas picked the top left corner past Skinner with a wrister from the top of the circle. It was Thomas’ 20th, tying his career high. It was the seventh time in the last eight games that the Oilers surrendered the first goal.
St. Louis added to its lead on its third shot at 4:49 as Jordan Kyrou made a nice pass from behind the net to allow Buchnevich to score his 24th on a point-blank shot.
Edmonton got one back on a power play of its own with 1:44 remaining in the first as McDavid fed a pass through to Hyman in tight and he sent his team-leading 39th past Binnington. It was Hyman’s sixth consecutive game with a goal. McDavid extended his home-game point streak to 24 games, his personal-best streak of that ilk.
The Oilers tied the game up five minutes into the second period as McDavid sent it back to Hyman on a 2-on-1 and he shoveled in his second of the game and eighth in the last six. It is the first time in Hyman’s career that he has hit the 40-goal mark, becoming the 13th player in Oilers history to do so.
“I’m so happy for him,” McDavid said of Hyman’s milestone. “He is a guy who brings it every single day with a positive attitude and a smile on his face. Even when things aren’t going well, he shows up and is the same every day. It is great to see him get rewarded. He has been playing great this year. He’s banging in goals left, right and center. It has been great for our team.”
Blues defenseman Justin Faulk played his second game in two nights after missing the previous 12 games because of a lower-body injury.
Edmonton’s Evan Bouchard had an assist on Hyman’s goal, giving him 57 points for the the most by an Oilers defenseman since Paul Coffey had 67 points in 1986-87.
UP NEXT
Blues: Return home to host Minnesota on Saturday.
Oilers: At Seattle on Saturday.
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AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL
