GAME RECAP: Oilers 3, Canadiens 2 (OT)

EDMONTON, AB – Très magnifique, Evan Bouchard.

Defenceman Evan Bouchard scored with 6.9 seconds left in overtime and added an assist on Thursday night as the Edmonton Oilers were able to earn the extra point in a 3-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens at Rogers Place.

Connor McDavid set up Bouchard in the dying stages of sudden death to beat goaltender Sam Montembault from the left side for his 11th goal of the campaign. McDavid had two assists, including the game-winning helper, to put an end to his 11-game run without recording an even-strength point despite posting two goals and nine assists on the power play.

"It was definitely a good feeling," Bouchard said. "We needed to get one back in the win column, so that was a big one for myself and the team."

Newcomer Max Jones recorded an assist in his Oilers debut with the helper on Corey Perry's 14th tally of the season in the first period, while Leon Draisaitl picked up a goal and an assist to extend his point streak to 13 games while passing Mark Messier (392) for the fourth-most goals in franchise history.

Goaltender Stuart Skinner made 25 saves, including four in overtime, to record his 21st victory of the campaign and earn his first win since Feb. 4 against St. Louis with an impressive performance.

"It felt fantastic," Skinner said. "I haven't gotten a win in a while, so Bouch putting that puck in the net, I was extremely happy."

"He was great," Bouchard said of Skinner. "He made the big saves when we needed him to early on in the game and late in the game, so all around he helped us out massively."

After Friday's NHL Trade Deadline at 1:00pm MST, the Oilers will look to wrap up their three-game homestand at Rogers Place on Saturday night against the Dallas Stars.

FIRST PERIOD

Looks like Max Jones is going to fit in just fine in wearing Oilers uniform – especially if he's strapped next to another London Knights alumni in veteran Corey Perry, who continues to have an exceptional year at the age of 39 after opening the scoring in the first frame with his 14th goal of the season.

"I thought he was involved all game," Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said of Jones. "We knew that he was going to add some speed to our team and he was going to add some physicality to our team, which are things that we felt we needed, and he did that and even more.

Following his acquisition from the Bruins earlier this week along with Trent Frederic, Jones was making his Oilers debut on Thursday night playing on the fourth line and had a wide-open shooting chance on his very-first shift when he was set up for a one-timer by Kasperi Kapanen that goaltender Sam Montembault stopped with a left-pad save.

"I felt good. My game feels like it's in a good spot," Jones said. "I just feel playing like I'm free out there, but that one timer got away from me a little bit. I don't know if new gloves or stick or what it was, but I wish I could've got a little bit more wood on it. But it was just a good game all around. It's easy to play with Perrs and Kapanen, so it was pretty easy out there."

Goaltender Stuart Skinner was up to the task for the Oilers to begin the all-Canadian matchup by making six confident saves in the opening 10 minutes, including a reaction stop getting his glove to a Cole Caufield one-timer in the right circle before he slid across his crease a few minutes later to deny Josh Anderson on a partial odd-man rush.

"He looked really sharp right away," Knoblauch said of Skinner. "There were some glove saves in the first 10 minutes that he just made look so easy, so you knew he was dialed in and ready to play tonight."

The Canadiens were putting a lot of shots to Skinner's glove side early on, but the netminder was able to make the read each time.

"I had a couple flashes of the leather," Skinner said. "They were shooting a lot at the glove. The first period, I felt like the one I made with the blocker against Slafkovsky was my first blocker save and the whole of the first period, so I think they were shooting a lot of the glove. They got some good shooters and I was just happy to keep on flashing the glove."

The Oilers would break the deadlock not long after, with Jones escaping the defensive zone with the puck near the midway mark of the frame before throwing a saucer pass behind the Canadiens' defence that managed to find its way onto the tape of another streaking London Knights alumni.

The pass from Jones tipped off the stick of a Montreal defenceman and into the path of Perry, who came in all alone with speed against Sam Montembault and dragged his back-hand finish under the crossbar to notch his 14th goal of the season and lift the Oilers into a 1-0 lead. The two forwards spent a half a season together with the Anaheim Ducks in 2018-19 and each won Memorial Cups with London during their OHL careers (Perry - 2005, Jones - 2016).

"I was thinking that pass usually isn't something a fourth line should be making coming out of the zone like that," Jones said. "But I just saw him skating so fast, I didn't even know if it was Perrs. I was joking with him. I was like, 'I don't remember you skating that fast in Anaheim.'

"He was just like, 'Come on, give me a break.' But he was flying, so I just flicked it over there and got lucky."

The Oilers could've doubled their lead on an extended five-on-three power play, but after Cole Caufield came onto the ice at even strength and took the puck away from another debutant in defenceman Cam Dineen, the winger would tie the game by burying his own rebound with 4:46 to go in the opening period.

Caufield's equalizer was his 31st goal of the season and his fourth in as many games for Montreal, who came into Thursday on a five-game win streak.

SECOND PERIOD

Leon Draisaitl just can't stop scoring right now, and he's doing it every way possible as the German continues to run away with the NHL lead this season with his 46th goalthat moved him ahead of Mark Messier into fourth place on Edmonton's all-time goal-scoring list.

The Canadiens were guilty of too many men in the opening minute of the frame, and Draisaitl would put away the go-ahead goal 26 seconds into the man advantage with a beautiful snipe far side on Sam Montembault from the top of the opposite right circle – the opposite of where he usually finds himself located on the power play.

With the 393rd goal of his career, Draisaitl surpassed Mark Messier (392) for the fourth-most goals in Oilers franchise history and now trails only Wayne Gretzky (583), Jari Kurri (474) and Glenn Anderson (417) on that list. It took Draisiaitl 70 fewer games to reach the mark, needing only 781 games to pass Messier, who did it in 851 games in an Oilers uniform.

Draisaitl's 46 goals this season are 11 better than Winnipeg's Mark Scheifele as the next closest in the NHL's goal-scoring race.

However, the Habs once again tied things up before the break, turning a rush started by defenceman Lane Hutson behind the Montreal net into a zone entry and a pass into the slot for winger Joel Armia, who connected on a one-timer and beat Stuart Skinner five-hole along the ice with 10:19 gone in the second.

"Especially that first line, they definitely know how to skate. They know how to get their chances when they do," Skinner said. "They've got great players with some fantastic shots and they're a really-high IQ team."

THIRD PERIOD

Speaking to the Oilers post-game, they'd tell you that the foundation for their victory on Thursday was solidified in a composed third period where they stayed patient absorbing the Canadiens' pressure while looking for the opening they needed at the other end.

"We're trending in the right direction. We gotta just keep playing that way," Evan Bouchard said. "In the third period, we weren't chasing it. We knew it could've taken some time, and it did, but we stuck with it."

Defenceman Cam Dineen had his opportunity to pick up a point in his Oilers debut in the first minute of the final frame when he came around the Montreal net and out front to force Sam Montembault into an important save with the score all square at 2-2 to begin the third period.

The Canadiens had a power play early in the period when Evan Bouchard took a tripping penalty against Nick Suzuki, but winger Mattias Janmark had the best opportunity to take the lead on a short-handed breakaway that the Swede didn't get a hold of when he tried to put a backhand on goal.

Edmonton looked the more likely team to break the deadlock before the end of regulation and somehow didn't find a way to take the lead on Connor McDavid's rebound attempt with 4:58 remaining that struck the near post before escaping out the other side of the Montreal crease.

The teams headed to overtime tied at 2-2 to determine the extra point after the Oilers outshot the Canadiens 9-6 in the final period, but they were most pleased with how they were able to defend – both in their own zone and off the rush.

"Stu made some big saves, especially in the first period and overtime," Knoblauch said. "He made some really big saves at those points of the game, but I think our team did a better job defending, but not just in the defensive zone. I don't think we've been giving up much there, just off the rush, and that's on the forwards to track back harder, pressure and then the D not pulling off the line.

"Tonight was better, but we still have room to grow."

OVERTIME

It's been too long since we've played La Bamba at home.

Remember all that talk about patience? Consider it rewarded.

"Like I said, we knew it could take some time come the third period," Bouchard said. "We got saves when we really needed them, and we capitalized."

Thanks to a February schedule spent the majority away from Rogers Place because of the 4 Nations Face-Off and a five-game road trip coming out of the break, the Blue & Orange hadn't experienced a win on home ice since Jan. 27 against the Seattle Kraken – a span of 38 days – until Bouchard waited until there were 6.9 seconds remaining in overtime to deposit McDavid's dish past Sam Montembault for the winner.

Stuart Skinner made two crucial stops on defenceman Mike Matheson in overtime that allowed the Oilers to eye up a last-gasp winner with McDavid, Draisaitl and Bouchard cycling the puck around Montreal's zone with time winding down in extra time.

"You just really try to get them the puck, because usually, they make plays out of nothing and that's what they did there," Bouchard said.

"I kind of expected it to get [to me], and it did."

McDavid found the opening after coming through the slot and saucering a pass through forward Jake Anderson between the hashmarks to pick out Bouchard on the other side, who squeaked his shot under the left arm of Montembault to win the Oilers the extra point.

Bouchard's tally was his 11th goal of the season, while a primary assist for McDavid ended the Oilers captain's 11-game run without an even-strength point.