GAME STORY: Oilers 4, Haie 3 (OT)

COLOGNE, GERMANY -- The Oilers had a bit of a scare from the hometown Cologne Sharks (known locally as Kolner Haie) as the club tied the game late in the third period to force overtime, but in the extra frame Ryan Strome redirected a feed from Ethan Bear to give Edmonton the win with 2:53 to play in overtime.

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POST-GAME RAW | Cologne head coach Peter Draisaitl
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Edmonton begins the 2018-19 NHL season on Saturday in Sweden against the New Jersey Devils. The game can be seen on Sportsnet and heard on the Oilers Radio Network, including 630 CHED. Puck drop is 11:08 a.m. MDT.
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"I thought they gave us exactly what I thought we would get from them. It'll be a tight game, take us awhile to get our legs underneath us, mismanage situations, times we don't have as much time as we think we have," said Oilers head coach Todd McLellan.
"They capitalized when we broke down. They took advantage by either drawing penalties or creating good scoring chances."
The game began with the fans chanting Draisaitl's name as they normally would for their own players.
"It was pretty special. I'm used to that from the German fans, for some reason they like to yell out the last name really loud," said Draisaitl.
There were no shots on goal in the first three minutes but the fans were very vocal, banging drums and chanting, getting the Oilers acquainted with European hockey early.
"It sure was great for the community here in Cologne but just the atmosphere here in the stands. The different emotion with the singing was a great experience to go through," McLellan remarked. "We have a lot of young players who have never played in a World Championship or anything like that. Just to feel that was really good for our team.
"When the hair goes up on your neck -- and I'm talking about me personally but I'm sure players felt that. It shows a unique thing that's happening. I felt it and I'm sure Leon felt it as well."
Matt Benning got called for delay of game three minutes in, giving the German squad the first power play. Oilers were able to kill that off and then Cologne was penalized shortly after with Colby Genoway headed to the box. However, that was also inconsequential.
The first goal of the game came with just less than nine minutes to play. Leon Draisaitl spotted Tobias Rieder skating up the slot and Rieder made no mistake, backhanding it in past Cologne netminder Gustaf Wesslau to open the scoring.
"That was a best-case scenario right from the get-go. You couldn't write that any better. That was a fun experience," noted Rieder.

Draisaitl added that he enjoyed having the German connection in this game.
"It was pretty cool having another German on the team and on my line. It's pretty special and fun to talk some German once in awhile."
Cologne started to get some pressure late in the period, cycling the puck down low in the Oilers zone. Mikko Koskinen was solid in turning away the German squad. Kyle Brodziak was forced to take a tripping penalty with 2:12 to go but Oilers killed that off as well.
After one period, shots on goal were 13-3 for Edmonton.
Cologne tied the game up 1:41 into the second period. They completed a nice tic-tac-toe play between Fabio Pfohl who had a slap pass over to Ben Hanowski. Hanowski then dished a quick feed in front over to Jason Akeson who redirected it in.

Corey Potter was sent to the box at the 7:06 mark of the second, giving the Oilers their second power play of the game. Right off the bat on the penalty kill, Ryan Jones created a turnover and skated down the ice. He successfully deked out Koskinen but on the backhand attempt, he just hit the side of the net.
But then seconds later, the Oilers took the play back up ice and converted to regain the lead. Milan Lucic redirected a feed from Connor McDavid past Weitzmann, completing a give-and-go, to put Edmonton back in the lead.
After two, shots on goal were 26-11 for the Oilers.
Cologne tied the game up five minutes into the third as Moritz Muller picked up a rebound in front and fired it through a crowd past Koskinen but 20 seconds later, the Oilers got that one back.
Ty Rattie redirected a pass from Darnell Nurse that went off the skate of a Cologne player in front of the net to put the Oilers back in front 3-2.
Zack Kassian was sent to the box for hooking, giving Cologne a chance to tie the game with just over eight minutes to play. Shots on goal were 32-13 for the Oilers at this point.
Less than a minute into the man advantage, Ben Hanowski picked up a rebound in front and ripped it by Koskinen to knot the game up at 3-3. Former Oiler Ryan Jones got one of the assists on the play.
Cologne head coach Peter Draisaitl was pleased with his team's overall performance.
"For us it was a very important game. We played two pretty good hockey teams lately, in Munich and today against the Oilers. It was nice to see our team competent in both and hopefully we can use it moving forward as a confidence boost for us," the elder Draisaitl said.
"There was some important situations for our team. We scored a power play goals -- we were struggling lately -- we created chances and were struggling to score goals."
Leon's dad then said that he felt having to go against his son wasn't quite as difficult as he imagined it would be.
"It was easier than I thought. Not a big issue at all. The Oilers, for whatever reason, are my favourite team in the National Hockey League. I wish them a great season."