Oilers defeat Rangers on Draisaitl OT goal

EDMONTON -- Leon Draisaitl scored 35 seconds into overtime to give the Edmonton Oilers a 3-2 win against the New York Rangers at Rogers Place on Monday.

Draisaitl scored from the right face-off circle off a cross-ice pass from Connor McDavid.
"Every point right now is huge for us," said Draisaitl, who had two assists and extended his point streak to 14 games, the longest in the NHL. "We know the position we are in and we are trying to climb back into it. It was a huge win for us."
WATCH: [All Rangers vs. Oilers highlights]
McDavid and Matt Benning scored in the first period for Edmonton (31-31-7), which has won five of its past six games and trails the Minnesota Wild by five points for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference. Mikko Koskinen made 28 saves.
Brendan Lemieux had a goal and an assist, Brett Howden scored, and Alexandar Georgiev made 30 saves for the Rangers (28-28-13), who are 1-2-5 in their past eight games and trail the Columbus Blue Jackets by 10 points for the second wild card from the Eastern Conference.
"To get down 2-0 and play as poorly as we did in the first period, and come back to play with a lot more pace and lot more passion is certainly a great sign," New York coach David Quinn said. "Certainly, you'd like to do that for 60 minutes instead of 40, but give them credit, I though they played hard and they were dialed in from the start. I guess we had to adjust our pace if we were going to have a chance tonight."
McDavid scored on the power play 6:08 into the game, taking a pass from Alex Chiasson and shooting from the right face-off circle to give the Oilers a 1-0 lead.

Benning scored on a point shot through traffic at 8:02 to make it 2-0.
The goal initially was waved off for goaltender interference by Oilers forward Zack Kassian. Edmonton coach Ken Hitchcock challenged, and the call on the ice was overturned after video review determined it was Rangers defenseman Fredrik Claesson's stick that contacted Georgiev's head.
"That's unlucky," Georgiev said. "I was sure it would be goalie interference because I got hit pretty hard."
Oilers defenseman Oscar Klefbom left the game at 11:58 of the first period after he was hit in the groin by a shot from Rangers defenseman Brendan Smith.
Benning left the game at 1:41 of the third period after a hit by New York forward Connor Brickley, who received a minor penalty for an illegal check to the head.
"We won't know on [Klefbom], we think he's going to be OK," Hitchcock said. "Playing five [defensemen], I thought all five guys played well, there was a lot of rotation, and they all got a lot of ice time. I didn't think we missed a beat. When it got down to four, it got a little scary."
Lemieux made it 2-1 at 11:29 of the second period. He took a pass from defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk and scored from the top of the right circle.

Howden tied the game 2-2 at 1:33 of the third period when he got to a loose puck in front of the Oilers net after Lemieux skated it into the zone.
"There are a lot of points that we've been missing out on," Lemieux said. "It [stinks], but that's the way the game goes. Hopefully next year it goes different for us. You never know, with 13 games left, but the writing is kind of on the wall and we just have to create good habits and stick to it until we find out what happens one way or the other."
The Rangers are 1-9 in games decided in overtime this season and have lost nine straight.
"I thought it was a great effort by our guys to battle back," Georgiev said. "In overtime, they have skilled players and they happen to get [a goal]. But it's great that we got the point today."

They said it

"Their guy initially hit [Alexandar Georgiev] in the head with the stick, but our guy followed it with his version of hitting him in the head with the stick and that probably had more impact on the goal than anything. When they go to review, it's at least an educated call, and you live with it." -- Rangers coach David Quinn on the initial call of goaltender interference on the Oilers' second goal being overturned following a coach's challenge
"It was a huge win for us. Obviously going down to five defensemen, those guys did a good job. People don't give that Rangers team enough credit. They are a good team that is fast and competes hard." -- Oilers forward Zack Kassian

Need to know

The Rangers are 7-13 in games decided after regulation (6-4 in the shootout). ... Draisaitl has 10 goals and 13 assists during his point streak. ... McDavid has 16 points (three goals, 13 assists) during a personal nine-game point streak.

What's next

Rangers: At the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday (10 p.m. ET; ESPN+, SNP, MSG, NHL.TV)
Oilers:Host the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday (9:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, SN1, NHL.TV)