Oilers shock Panthers in OT thriller

Nov 29, 2022 - 5:26 AM

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The Edmonton Oilers won an absolutely thrilling 4-3 tilt against the Florida Panthers on Monday night.

The Oilers were losing with under five seconds to go in regulation before Evan Bouchard unleashed an absolute bomb from the point to tie things up with four seconds on the clock. Leon Draisaitl topped it off in OT on a 2-on-1 feed with McDavid.

It was hopeless until it was glorious. Here is how we got there:

First Period:

Public enemy number one, Matthew Tkachuk, got the scoring started. It came after Darnell Nurse deflected a puck to a wide-open Tkachuk and then failed to stop him from getting two shots on net, the second of which trickled by. Stuart Skinner left out to dry by his $9-million defender. 1-0 Florida.

Evan Bouchard had a fantastic look on net labeled glove side, but Spencer Knight was sharp.

Edmonton had a couple of chances to tie it on an extended 5-on-3 but couldn’t beat Knight.

The Oilers did have a decent result after falling behind, but they went into the second period trailing 1-0.

Second Period:

Zach Hyman thought he tied things up seven minutes into the period.

Draisaitl forced a turnover, and McDavid found a wide-open Zach Hyman who got around Knight. Only, it didn’t count. It was reviewed and the officials determined that Hyman kicked the puck into the net. The score remained 1-0.

McDavid eventually got the equalizer after getting a rare uncontested breakaway. He roofed a shot over the glove. 1-1 game.

A brand new game for the last 20 minutes.

Third Period:

The Oilers were a determined group in the third. They came out and had shift after shift in the Panthers’ zone.

All that pressure eventually culminated in Brett Kulak sending a point shot toward the net and a pinching Tyson Barrie tipping it just past Knight’s pad. Oilers had their first lead of the night. 2-1.

It wasn’t enough to keep the Panthers at bay. Sam Reinhart made a perfect pass to the slot that Anton Lundell tipped home. Barrie was caught chasing his guy a bit. A pretty goal to knot things back up. 2-2.

Edmonton had a chance on the PP to regain the lead but couldn’t get it done. The Panthers then had a PP of their own, which Brandon Montour scored from the point after chaos in front of the net. Edmonton challenged for a high stick on the play but lost the challenge. 3-2 game with under five to go.

It wouldn’t keep the Oilers dead. Evan Bouchard unleashed a cannon from the point to tie things up with just four seconds left in the game. WOW. This one needed OT at 3-3.

OT:

This one didn’t take long at all.

Matthew Tkachuk blew a wheel in the Oilers end which allowed McDavid and Draisaitl to go in on a 2-on-1. A passing play ensued that ended in Draisaitl ending this one!

4-3 Oilers is your final in an absolute thriller.

Takeaways:

• Far from me to criticize Edmonton’s powerplay, but with all that offensive firepower on the ice, you think they’d have more than one set play aside from shovelling the puck to Draisaitl. I mean it works if you pull it off the first few times, after that it becomes a tad predictable.
• Evan Bouchard is back. Amazing shot placement in the dying seconds to get this one into OT.
• Speaking of which, I think the Oilers might have something in the Broberg-Bouchard pairing. I really liked their game tonight. They complement each other well.
• Leon you sexy [REDACTED]
• Did we save the receipt on Darnell Nurse’s contract? Abysmal game.
• Loved the Condors line of Holloway-Malone-Hamblin tonight. They were buzzing. Impressive showing for Hamblin in his NHL debut.
• Can Tyson Barrie play Florida every game? It’s been a disappointing season for #22 but that’s three goals in two games against the cats. Don’t talk to me about his defensive play, that’s stayed the same.
• Zach Hyman got rewarded with two excellent assists after having his goal disallowed. Outside of McDavid, I think Hyman holds the title of most consistent Oiler this season.
• What a game, what a result! The Oilers string together two straight victories for the first time in a long time with a 4-3 OT victory over the Panthers. They will look to keep the good times rolling in Chicago on Wednesday as they go up against the Blackhawks.