GAME RECAP: Oilers 4, Golden Knights 2

LAS VEGAS, NV – Two vital points in Vegas secured.

Vasily Podkolzin and Leon Draisaitl potted the goals the Edmonton Oilers needed in the third period on Sunday night at T-Mobile Arena to earn themselves two valuable points in the Pacific Division playoff race in a 4-2 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights.

"We played responsibly and hard defensively," Podkolzin said. "So I think that's the main point, and we need to continue to do that."

Trent Frederic and Noah Hanifin traded tallies in the second period after a scoreless opening frame before the Oilers pulled away in the final stanza, with Draisaitl's 34th goal of the season with 8:07 left in regulation standing up as the game-winner to cut the points gap between them & the Golden Knights to two in the Pacific Division.

Podkolzin put the Oilers ahead on an unassisted breakaway early in the third period with his 15th goal of the campaign before Draisaitl tallied his eventual game-winner, with Jack Eichel's short-handed marker late in the contest giving the Golden Knights the chance to equalize with their net empty.

Kasperi Kapanen added the insurance marker into the empty net that was assisted by Connor McDavid, who contributed two assists to Edmonton's victory in the third period.

Goalie Connor Ingram made 24 saves for the victory and has now won three of his last four starts.

"I think this is a good example of what we can do," Ingram said. "But at the end of the day, this one's over. Let's move on. We've got three more left on this road trip. We got two points here, but it's the two-hour rule: enjoy it for two hours, then we turn the page."

The Oilers will continue their four-game road trip on Tuesday night with another tough matchup against the Colorado Avalanche.

FIRST PERIOD

Two posts off the sticks of Kasperi Kapanen and Evan Bouchard in the opening five minutes for the Oilers were the closest they came to breaking the deadlock with the Golden Knights and giving themselves the early jump on claiming the two valuable points up for grabs on Sunday in the race to win the Pacific Division.

"Every game from here on out, we're going to have to fight and claw," Ingram said. "It's time to go to work, and that's what we did today. So I think if we keep this effort and this mindset, we'll be okay. But I think that's the goal, for sure."

The shots were split 7-7 after 20 minutes, but Kapanen's first real chance for Edmonton in the game's opening minutes didn't register as one when his quick shot from the slot through traffic caught the outside of the left post.

An interference call on Mattias Ekholm before the two-minute mark didn't slow down the Oilers or Kapanen, who was out with newcomer Jason Dickinson on the kill and forced an interception inside the defensive zone before finding his partner for an open shot on a two-on-one that needed Adin Hill to make an important early save.

Most importantly, the Oilers set the tone early for a strong defensive game at both even strength and on the penalty kill, which ultimately became the basis of their important victory.

"I think there were a lot of things that I liked – mostly the defending," Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said. "I thought we did a pretty good job. There were times when we spent a little more time in our defensive zone, but we kept them to the outside and a lot of perimeter shots. So I like that part of it. I thought the penalty kill was really good, and when they did get their opportunities, I thought Ingy did a great job."

Bouchard hit the same post as Kapanen not long after, then Zach Hyman had an in-close backhand made possible by the feed from Connor McDavid that caught a small piece of Hill's shoulder and found its way out for another early let-off for the Vegas.

McDavid made a terrific toe drag late in the period before flashing his backhand wide on what would've been a highlight-reel goal from the Oilers captain to end the period, but it would remain scoreless at the first intermission.

SECOND PERIOD

Freddy is starting to find his form at the right time. 

Playing in his 399th career NHL game on Sunday, Trent Frederic found the back of the net for the second time in his last four games 3:21 into the frame on his second effort from inside the blue paint after Bouchard made two tries to funnel it into the crease and succeeded on his own follow-up attempt by wrapping it in front from below the goal line.

With Hill sprawled out across the goal line inside the Vegas crease, Frederic took two whacks at the puck and put it over the netminder, with Bouchard's assist extending his point streak to seven games (3G, 10A) to match his second-longest career streak.

It also marked the first point in an Oilers uniform for St. Albert product Colton Dach, playing in his second game with his hometown team after being traded from Chicago.

Coach Knoblauch is liking what he's seeing from the duo of Dach and Frederic so far, especially the latter since the return of NHL action after the Olympic break.

"You talk about being hard to play against, and Doc and Freddy fit that bill," he said. "And you can see on the goal, they just took the puck to the net. It's never going to be pretty, but it's very effective. We need more hockey like that out of those two."

The Golden Knights had an equalizer taken off the board three minutes later when Keegan Kolesar's shot that went in off the stick of Ingram was nullified by a successful coach's challenge for offside on the zone entry, keeping it 1-0 for the Oilers.

"It was a close one, but we were pretty confident that it would be overturned, and our video guys are as sharp as they come," Knoblauch said.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins hit Edmonton's third post soon after with a chest-high redirection off a Bouchard slap shot that caught the right iron, and Vegas would ultimately make it even with under seven minutes left in the period.

Noah Hanifin got the puck right after coming onto the ice and fired a long wrist shot towards goal that caught a piece of Darnell Nurse's stick to elevate the puck over the right pad of Ingram, with Mitch Marner collecting the only assist.

The Oilers had the chance to respond over a minute later on the power play, but they couldn't convert before Ingram had to make a vital shoulder save on Ivan Barbashev after the Golden Knights got back to even strength.

Despite the chance off the rush for the Golden Knights, Ingram said post-game that his teammates did a fantastic job of clogging the area in front of him, which was an important discussion point for them after allowing a League-high 56 goals in their previous 12 games.

"I thought we did everything we've been talking about," he said. "We talked about packing it tight in the D zone and just playing good defence. We're good enough. We're going to get chances no matter what, so as long as we take care of the puck in that end, we're going to be fine."

After an even first period in goals and shots, the second period was the same in terms of goal scoring, but Vegas had the 11-4 advantage in shots in the period to lead 18-11 in that department through 40 minutes.

THIRD PERIOD

With the margins as razor-tight as they are in the Pacific Division title race, whoever was able to find an inch on Sunday was going to earn the vital two points in the third period.

Vasily Podkolzin found more than that by taking a mile to earn himself an unassisted breakaway, but he needed that extra inch to help get the puck – and Edmonton's much-needed victory in a must-win divisional game – over the goal line in this one.

"We just kept grinding," Podkolzin said about responding to Friday's loss to Carolina. "Sometimes, it's tough to recover quickly from loss like that, but what else can we do? We are at the part of the season where we need to grind and fight."

Off a defensive-zone face-off in the first three minutes of the third period, Podkolzin took it all the way himself by beating a Golden Knights' defender for a breakaway before his effort barely trickled over the goal line for the 2-1 lead, scoring his 15th goal of the season despite Jack Roslovic tracking down the loose puck in the Vegas crease.

"I thought he tipped it," Podkolzin said post-game. "I don't know, did I score or not?"

Almost half a period later, Leon Draisaitl benefitted from a broken stick in the Golden Knights' zone to tally the much-needed insurance marker.

With Jack Eichel stickless along the boards, McDavid pounced on the loose puck and fed Draisaitl in alone behind the defence for his other half of the Dynamic Duo to slide a backhand five-hole on Hill to make it 3-1 for the Oilers.

Tracking to win the two points, the Oilers could've killed the game off on the power play when Draisaitl was highsticked in front of the Vegas net with under five minutes left, but some lack in coverage below their own goal line saw Eichel get open and snipe a short-handed marker under the bar on Ingram to make it 3-2 with 3:17 remaining in regulation.

Vegas pulled their goalie, but Kasperi Kapanen was the benefactor of a strong exit from McDavid at six-on-five to feed his Finnish teammate to guide the puck into the empty net and secure the Oilers their 4-2 victory.

Connor McDavid tallied two assists in the third period to extend his road point streak to 18 games (11G, 23A) -- becoming just the sixth player in the last 40 years to have a road point streak of at least that length.