Oilers defeat Golden Knights in OT in key Pacific game

LAS VEGAS -- Evan Bouchard scored at 3:10 of overtime to give the Edmonton Oilers a 4-3 victory against the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena on Thursday.

Connor McDavid won a face-off in the right circle back to Bouchard, who skated into the high slot before beating Adin Hill blocker side.

His goal came eight seconds after Edmonton killed off a Vegas power play.

“Massive kill since I was the one in the box,” Oilers forward Zach Hyman said. “I was cheering them on. Not easy, obviously."

McDavid had a goal and two assists, and Hyman and Matt Savoie also scored for the Oilers (36-28-9), who have won two straight. Connor Ingram made 26 saves.

“We’re looking more like we’re playing a playoff game,” Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch said. “Like things matter, things like attention to detail. We’re simplifying our game. It’s nice to see. The games are so important right now that everyone seems like they’re dialed in.”

The Oilers are in second place in the Pacific Division, five points behind the Anaheim Ducks, who defeated the Calgary Flames 3-2 in overtime on Thursday.

“Every point is magnified. It’s hard to gain points when there are only nine games left,” Hyman said. "So, a big win for us to stay ahead."

Mark Stone scored twice, and Ivan Barbashev had a goal and an assist for the Golden Knights (32-26-15), who have lost five of their past six games (1-4-1). Hill made 25 saves.

“It’s been a battle for us since the Olympic break to win games,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “So, let’s get winning again, feel good about ourselves, and take care of winning.”

The Golden Knights are in third place in the Pacific, two points behind the Oilers and three ahead of the Los Angeles Kings, who defeated the Vancouver Canucks 4-0 on Thursday.

“Let’s put ourselves in the dance. There are no guarantees, so we must continue to wake up in the morning, put our best foot forward, and get better,” Stone said. “We played a pretty good 5-on-5 game. Our problem is that we’re making some big mistakes. That’s just what we got to clean up.”

Savoie gave the Oilers a 1-0 lead at 11:52 of the first period, taking a pass from McDavid at the upper edge of the left circle and beating Hill short side.

Stone tied the game 1-1 at 4:09 of the second period. Ingram saved Barbashev's one-timer in front before getting over to stop Jack Eichel's rebound attempt from the bottom of the right circle with his glove. That rebound popped into the air, and the puck ended up bouncing to Stone, who swiped it with his backhand five-hole on Ingram.

It was Stone’s first goal since Feb. 5 (10 games).

“It’s nice to see 'Stoney' score, he’s been having a lot of chances,” Barbashev said. “As a team, I don’t remember the last time we scored 5-on-5. There’s a lot of improvements we’ve been seeing in our game. It’s going to turn around pretty soon.”

McDavid put Edmonton ahead 2-1 at 7:27, electing to shoot on a 3-on-1 rush and scoring blocker side from the right circle.

Stone scored his second of the period to tie it 2-2 at 14:51. He stole the puck from McDavid, skated in on a short breakaway, and tucked a backhand inside the left post after almost coming to a complete stop.

Hyman put Edmonton back in front 3-2 at 16:42, stripping the puck from Brayden McNabb in front and roofing a wrist shot over Hill's blocker.

Barbashev tied the game 3-3 at 6:21 of the third period, finishing the rebound of Pavel Dorofeyev's shot off the rush.

“Unfortunately, we gave up the lead three times, but we didn’t ever give up two in a row,” Knoblauch said. “When they had opportunities to go ahead, especially on the penalty kill, we were able to find an answer with some defensive play.”

NOTE: McDavid (785 games) became the third-fastest player in NHL history to record 800 assists, behind Wayne Gretzky (527) and Mario Lemieux (661).