GAME RECAP: Oilers 3, Red Wings 2 (OT)

DETROIT, MI – It took 49 minutes to tame the Lyon, but Connor McDavid, Zach Hyman, Darnell Nurse and the Oilers got the job done to tie a franchise record with their ninth consecutive victory.

Red Wings goaltender Alex Lyon was outstanding for the home side at Little Caesars Arena on Thursday night with 44 saves, but third-period tallies from McDavid and Hyman plus the overtime winner from Nurse gave Edmonton a thrilling 3-2 decision.

The Oilers have now won nine straight games for the third time in their history, first in 2001 (February 20 to March 13) and also last year (March 27 to April 13) as part of a 14-0-1 run to end the 2022-23 regular season.

"Their goaltender played really well, and it's a tough team to play against, so to come in here in this building and win, it's a good sign for our group," Nurse said after his OT heroics. "There was a lot of persistence to our game. We weren't forcing it, we kind of just stuck with it. And even when things didn't seem to go our way in moments, we didn't get down on ourselves. We just kept playing."

FIRST PERIOD

After recording just 15 shots on goal through the full game on Tuesday in Chicago, the Oilers responded by peppering the Red Wings with 15 in the opening frame on Thursday. However, Lyon was equal to the task between the Detroit pipes, stopping them all and watching a Hyman shot zip over his shoulder off the crossbar for another high-danger chance.

Edmonton had the lone power-play opportunity of the first period after Ben Chiarot was called for holding Mattias Janmark, but they were unable to convert on their three shots on goal. Calvin Pickard wasn't nearly as busy in Edmonton's crease, but he was poised to the tune of six saves, ultimately turning aside 15 of 17 on the night for a personal three-start win streak.

"I just want to do my thing when I'm called upon and not put too much pressure on myself," Pickard said of his role backing up Stuart Skinner. "And the guys have been playing really good in front of me. So if I do my job and the guys keep playing well, we're going to get a few more wins."

SECOND PERIOD

The middle frame carried a similar pattern as the opening 20, but with more special teams thrown into the mix. The Oilers added 12 more shots and were up 27-11 on the Red Wings, but Lyon continued to hold down the fort in net and keep the game scoreless.

McDavid and Hyman had the best scoring chance for either side in the period as the captain set up the team's leading goal-scorer on a two-on-one rush, but Lyon poke-checked Hyman as he was attempting his go-to backhand deke.

Detroit then had back-to-back power-play opportunities on holding and slashing penalties by Evan Bouchard and Brett Kulak, respectively, but Edmonton's penalty-kill prowess of late continued as they got the game back to even strength.

The Oilers got their turn on the PP to close out the period, but were unable to crack the goose egg.

THIRD PERIOD & OVERTIME

It took more than 43 minutes for either side to find twine, but the Red Wings drew first blood at the 3:34 mark of the third when Andrew Copp beat Pickard with a long wrist shot through traffic.

Edmonton challenged the play for goaltender interference after it appeared Christian Fischer bumped into the goalie's glove during his screen. The review was brief, though, as the goal was upheld and the Oilers got dinged with the delay-of-game penalty for their troubles.

McDavid scored the equalizer in outlandish fasion at the 9:12 mark, pouncing on a loose puck just inside the Detroit blue line, weaving his way through the Red Wings defenders and beating Lyon with a deke to his forehand for his 16th – and possibly most spectacular – goal of the season.

"I had a first-hand look at it, front-row seat," Hyman smiled. "There was a battle on the wall. I was kind of whacking and hacking at it. And then I think the puck hit Raymond's skate and just kind of stood there and it felt like everything stopped for a little bit because [McDavid] was, like, waiting for me to get out.

"He's just sitting there looking at me like, 'get out' and then I got out and then he went. I think it was Walman who thought it was offside, so he's got his hands up and Connor's like, 'game on' and did his thing. Just special, a special player."

With exactly six minutes to go in regulation, the Oilers struck again for their first lead of the night as Hyman buried a shot from the high slot after an impressive setup from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins for his team-leading 26th of the season.

Just 2:03 later, though, the Red Wings made it a tie game again as Olli Maata knocked home a loose puck in the crease after a pass attempt by Lucas Raymond hit Nurse's skate and hit Pickard, but the Oilers goalie couldn't locate the rebound.

The Oilers nearly beat the buzzer with the game-winner in the dying seconds as Evander Kane smacked in a close-range shot with 11 seconds to go, but the goal was called off immediately as Derek Ryan closed his hand on the errant puck moments before Kane converted.

The frustration was short-lived, though, as Nurse sniped a wrist shot past Lyon 80 seconds into sudden death for his fifth-career overtime winner.

"I just try to get the right spots," he said of his OT scoring touch. "We have some special players that make special plays and I try to capitalize when I get my chance. Tonight was just one of those opportunities of getting to the right spot on the ice and trying to hit my shot."

Nurse's nightcap sends the Oilers off to Montreal with another win and a date with the Canadiens on Saturday as they look to set the new franchise win streak record.