GAME RECAP: Oilers 4, Golden Knights 3 (OT)

LAS VEGAS, NV – It was only fitting that two teams separated by a single point in the standings through 72 games would need overtime to determine a winner in their matchup on Thursday.

The Oilers never trailed through 60 minutes of the Pacific Division showdown at T-Mobile Arena, as the Vegas Golden Knights tallied three equalizers to send the game to sudden death, leading to the eventual winner by Evan Bouchard to give Edmonton a perfect two-for-two road trip.

"Good, really good, it's a great road trip," Zach Hyman said after the OT thriller. "Two massive wins against two potential playoff opponents. I thought we played well defensively and everybody contributed. That's so important at this time of year. Everybody feels a part of it."

"The last two games have been both really good," Connor Ingram said after making 26 saves in net. "We found a way to play that's giving us success and now it's just not being stubborn and sticking with it, just playing simple. We're a good enough hockey club where we're going to get our chances, so as long as we don't give them any, we're going to be just fine."

FIRST PERIOD

The opening frame certainly lived up to the hype of a marquee rivalry clash with one fight and a pair of heated post-whistle scrums involving multiple players, in addition to a lone goal from the visitors.

After scoring twice in Tuesday's 5-2 win over the Utah Mammoth, Jack Roslovic had the best early chance of the game late in an Oilers power play as he slid a rebound attempt just wide with Vegas goaltender Adin Hill out of position. Hill then denied a point blank shot from Zach Hyman after the Oilers winger stole the puck in the Golden Knights zone.

The rough stuff started when Connor Murphy delivered a hard hit on Cole Smith just inside the Oilers blueliner, and the Vegas forward challenged the defenceman to a fight. Murphy obliged and landed a big early shot before the two had more of a wrestling match along the boards.

That was just the start of the bad blood, though, as Darnell Nurse took exception to some late pokes on goaltender Connor Ingram by Ivan Barbashev, with Jason Dickinson also grabbing the Vegas player for some tussling. More involvement to come for both Nurse and Dickinson.

But first, Matt Savoie scored for the second consecutive game at the 11:52 mark of the period, receiving a pass from Connor McDavid in the high slot and sniping a wrist shot short side on Hill for his 13th of the season. The Oilers captain collected his 800th career assist one game after hitting 400 goals and 1,200 points in Salt Lake City,

The rivalry really got heated in the final minute of the period when Jeremy Lauzon laid out Dickinson with an elbow just inside the Golden Knights blueline. The Oilers forward responded by crushing Shea Theodore behind behind the Vegas net as the end-of-period buzzer went, starting a melee involving all 10 players on the ice.

Dickinson and Nurse ended up with minor penalties, as did Lauzon and Brett Howden, once cooler heads prevailed.

"That's one that people got their money's worth for," Ingram said of the raucous affair. "It's back and forth, both teams had chances. I thought it was just a really good hockey game."

SECOND PERIOD

Vegas captain Mark Stone tied the game at the 4:09 mark of the middle frame, whacking home a rebound after Ingram made two acrobatic saves. Third time was a charm for the home side as Stone tallied his first goal since Feb. 5 vs. Los Angeles before the Olympic break.

His Team Canada teammate in Milan put the Oilers back up by a goal three minutes later as McDavid beat Hill on a three-on-one breakout for his 41st of the season.

The captains' duel continued with 5:09 to go in the period as Stone struck again, poking the puck away from McDavid just inside the Vegas blueline, bursting in alone on Ingram and beating the netminder with a backhand deke to make it 2-2.

The Oilers were quick to reply again, as Hyman scored a similar goal to Stone's second to make it 3-2 for Edmonton less than two minutes later. The feisty forward stripped Brayden McNabb of the puck and went in alone on Hill, lifting a backhand over the goalie's blocker-side shoulder for his 30th of the season.

THIRD PERIOD & OVERTIME

The Golden Knights drew even for the third time at 6:21 of the period when Barbashev deposited the rebound off an initial attempt by Pavel Dorofeyev on a two-on-one rush by the Vegas forwards.

Coming out of the second-last TV timeout, the Savoie-McDavid-Podkolzin line along with Mattias Ekholm and Evan Bouchard hemmed the Golden Knights in their own zone for an extended shift, concluding with Ekholm blasting a slap shot off Hill's mask so hard that it drew a stoppage from the officials.

Ingram made an impressive blocker stop in tight on Noah Hanifin in the late stages of regulation to keep the game tied 3-3.

"Those big saves are game-changers," Hyman said. "Often times the difference between winning and losing. It's a game-changing save at the end of the game and he made a couple of them."

The Oilers sent Dickinson out to take the draw to start overtime, and he won it back to Bouchard before heading to the bench to allow Savoie to join the trio with McDavid.

Hyman was called for holding on Stone, sending Vegas to the four-on-three PP, but the Blue & Orange were able to kill it off despite multiple Jack Eichel scoring chances. Murphy, Nurse and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins earned praise from their coach for the shorthanded stand.

"Murph and Nursey and Nuge, I thought they did a pretty good job," Knoblauch said. "We gave up a couple shots, but they were on the perimeter. I don't think they could have killed that any better."

Bouchard then buried the winner 3:10 into extra time with a blistering top-shelf wrist shot after an offensive zone faceoff win by McDavid for his 20th tally of the season.

The Oilers are now two points ahead of Vegas for second in the Pacific and five behind the Anaheim Ducks for the division lead. They have a date with the Orange County squad on Saturday afternoon at Rogers Place.

"We're looking more like we're playing a playoff game, like things matter," Knoblauch said. "Attention to detail and we're simplifying our game. It's nice to see. And obviously the games are so important right now that everyone seems like they're dialed in and needing to. They know the urgency to play right."