McDavid sparks late surge in Oilers win against Canadiens

EDMONTON -- Connor McDavid had a goal and two assists in the third period, and the Edmonton Oilers rallied for a 4-1 win against the Montreal Canadiens at Rogers Place on Monday.

Jesse Puljujarvi had a goal and an assist, Ethan Bear scored his first goal of the season, and Mike Smith made 22 saves for Edmonton (27-15-2), which is 5-1-1 in its past seven games and moved one point back of the Winnipeg Jets for second place in the seven-team Scotia North Division. The top four teams will qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
"I thought they kind of got the jump on us in the first 10 minutes and I thought we did a good job of responding physically," McDavid said. "I thought we got our hands back as the night went on and started to make some passes and sped our game up. That's a team that's had our number for whatever reason this year (Oilers are 2-3-1 against Canadiens), and that's a big win for our group."
Eric Staal scored for Montreal (19-15-9), which has lost three of its past four games and remained six points ahead of the Calgary Flames for fourth in the North.

Carey Price made the save on all seven shots he faced before being replaced at the start of the second period by Jake Allen, who made 25 saves. Canadiens coach Dominique Ducharme said Price sustained an upper-body injury when he was bumped by Oilers forward Alex Chiasson at 12:01 of the first period on a goal by McDavid that was waved off following a challenge for goaltender interference.
"It's unfortunate for Carey, but that's what I'm here for," Allen said. "I'm here to step up when guys go down. That's my job. So I've got to always be ready."
Bear tied it 1-1 at 10:49 of the third period with a one-timer from the slot off a pass from McDavid, who then gave the Oilers a 2-1 lead at 15:11 when he skated from end to end and split Canadiens defensemen Jeff Petry and Joel Edmundson before scoring blocker side on Allen.
"It felt amazing, it had been a long time for me," said Bear, who hadn't scored since Feb. 6, 2020 (49 games). "Connor just laid it on a platter, and I just wanted to shoot as hard as I can. To contribute and to bring some energy, and go to the bench and see all the smiles on everyone's faces and everyone is fired up, that's a play in the game that I haven't felt in a long time and it feels really good."

Puljujarvi extended the lead to 3-1 at 17:37, receiving a stretch pass from McDavid and scoring on a breakaway, and Devin Shore shot into an empty net at 18:21 for the 4-1 final.
"I thought we did a good job of taking [McDavid's] time and space early on," Petry said. "That last 10 minutes they were able to tie the game and then their momentum took over. I think that's where down the stretch games are going to be tight and whether we're up a goal or down a goal, we have to make sure we're mature in our game and not shy away from it. They gained momentum from that goal and they kept rolling from there."
Edmonton outshot Montreal 19-8 in the third period.
"I liked that we got better as the game went on because we weren't very good early," Oilers coach Dave Tippett said. "We got a lot better. The third period was a strong period for us, we kept the pressure on them and capitalized on some chances. But early in the game, we just weren't real crisp with the puck, we needed to get our feet going a little better. But as the game went on we got better and we found a way to win."
Staal gave the Canadiens a 1-0 lead at 6:46 of the second period when Corey Perry's cross-ice pass went in off his skate.
"With five minutes to go, McDavid gets the puck and speeds up," Ducharme said. "I think overall, we played two pretty solid periods; we can say 50 minutes. At one point we were good containing those guys, but he's probably the best player in the world now and he made the difference with five minutes to go."
NOTE:Oilers forward Jujhar Khaira left the game at 8:18 of the first period after taking a hit from Canadiens defenseman Alexander Romanov along the boards.