GAME RECAP: Oilers 4, Hurricanes 3 (OT)

RALEIGH, NC – Storm purged.

Forward Leon Draisaitl scored just 19 seconds into overtime, notching the winning goal and adding a pair of assists, while captain Connor McDavid recorded two goals and a helper for the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday night in a 4-3 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes at Lenovo Center.

"We're just scrapping and clawing our way through the first quarter here, and we're getting points on the board," McDavid said. "That's all that matters."

The Dynamic Duo of Draisaitl and McDavid led the charge with three-point performances, while winger Jack Roslovic recorded a goal and an assist and Zach Hyman contributed a helper with a team-high 11 hits in 23:10 of ice time in his season debut – the second-highest ice time among Oilers forwards in the win.

"It's just great to see him," McDavid said. "Great to see him playing despite a significant injury, and I got to see him work his way back, and it wasn't always easy. It never is. Sometimes people forget the human side of it. It's an emotional thing to go through a significant injury like that, so to see him back and playing and healthy and moving really well, it's definitely uplifting for our group."

Goaltender Stuart Skinner helped stem the tide during the Hurricanes' strongest push in the second period, making 15 saves in the stanza before finishing the night with 30 saves on 33 shots to improve to 7-4-3 this season.

Edmonton's penalty kill went 2-for-2, making both of their stops in the middle frame, while McDavid scored one of his two goals on his team's only power-play opportunity of the night at 6:30 of the first period, making it 2-0 after Roslovic opened the scoring for the Oilers three minutes earlier.

"Stu was great," McDavid said. "He gives us a chance to win and did tonight. We were taking on water there for a little while, and he was making saves and giving us a chance. Special teams were good. We got the kills, and we only got one power play and scored. You know, that's a big part of our game.

The Oilers will hit the midway point of their seven-game road trip on Monday when they take on the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center in their next matchup.

READY, SET, GO IN RALEIGH

The Oilers were jacked up to begin this one and jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first six and a half minutes thanks to Jack Roslovic and Connor McDavid, but the Hurricanes weathered the early storm and had momentum on their side heading into the intermission.

Playing one of his former teams for the third time in Edmonton's last four games, forward Jack Roslovic hasn't minded the homecomings because they've coincided with his terrific run of production, having a four-game point streak that he stretched with a goal and an assist in the opening 20 minutes.

After Stuart Skinner turned aside a pair of quality Hurricanes chances that came off turnovers, the Oilers scored first on Roslovic's sixth goal of the season on an attempted full-ice bank play with Darnell Nurse that still managed to find its way to his stick following a poor read from goalie Frederik Andersen.

Nurse's attempted pass off the corner boards for a streaking Roslovic behind the defence fell into the path of Andersen, but it was given directly to the Oilers forward on a misfire up the boards from the Carolina netminder before it was finished off by the 28-year-old to open the scoring against his former team.

Tonight was Roslovic's first game back in Carolina against the Hurricanes since suiting up in 81 games with them last season, where he tallied 39 points (22G, 17A), and a goal and an assist in the first period marked his fourth multi-point game of the season while extending his point streak to four (3G, 3A).

With Ryan Nugent-Hopkins still out due to injury, Roslovic got to continue on the top unit power play for the Oilers despite Zach Hyman's return to the lineup and the net-front role on Saturday, and they'd all play a different part in Edmonton doubling their lead on the man advantage just 2:47 later.

A cross-checking penalty to Andrei Svechnikov on Connor McDavid less than five minutes later put Edmonton on its first man advantage. Roslovic's wide effort from the right circle past the screen set by Hyman wound up bouncing onto the stick of McDavid behind Carolina's net for the captain to make it 2-0.

McDavid is now riding an eight-game point streak (5G, 9A) of his own after picking up his eighth goal of the campaign. It was also his third power-play goal of the season and the 90th of his career, passing Mark Messier (89) for the sixth most in franchise history behind Leon Draisaitl (168), Glenn Anderson (126), Ryan Smyth (126), Wayne Gretzky (125) and Jari Kurri (107).

Hyman set the screen on McDavid's tally and had a career-high five hits in the period, looking to get involved physically in the opening 20 of his season debut, having missed all 19 games this campaign while recovering from his fractured wrist suffered in last season's Western Conference Final.

Hyman picked up where he left off last postseason, where he had an impressive 111 hits in 15 games before his injury.

"He said after the game that he was just picking up right where he left off in the playoffs," Knoblauch said. "He also told me that his legs were feeling great, so he played 20-plus minutes tonight, and it was not an easy task for a guy who hasn't played for several months."

But after the Oilers took their two-goal lead, they struggled to maintain their advantage against the Hurricanes, who dominated the wall battles and began to create more plays and extended periods of possession in the offensive zone.

"We came out strong, had the two-nothing lead, but they didn't fade away at all. They pushed even harder," Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said.

Stuart Skinner did all he could trying to keep the Hurricanes off the scoresheet before the intermission, but there wasn't much he could do with 4:21 left in the period on a nice tic-tac-toe passing play involving Taylor Hall and Shayne Gostisbehere that Eric Robinson finished off on the cross-crease pass.

The storm shifted Edmonton's way after they built a quick two-goal lead, and it was going to be a difficult task slowing Carolina's spin in the middle frame.

CANES CONTROL THE SECOND FRAME

Carolina's first heavy-pressure shift of the second period came early in the first two minutes, setting the tone for a one-sided stanza for the Hurricanes after Nikolaj Ehlers equalized just 1:41 after the intermission.

Skinner had to respect the angle for Jackson Blake on an in-close scoring opportunity before the Carolina forward went around his net with the puck and picked out the open Ehlers in the left circle to tie the contest at 2-2 early in the middle frame.

"Credit to Carolina, they played as we expected," Knoblauch said. "They're a good hockey team and play extremely hard. They force you into mistakes, and we made a few of them."

The Hurricanes had the chance to take their first lead of the game on back-to-back power plays on cross-checking and slashing penalties to Darnell Nurse and Leon Draisaitl in the five minutes after Ehlers made it 2-2, but Edmonton penalty kill stood tall.

Despite being beaten early, Skinner was essential to the Oilers along with the penalty kill of holding off the Hurricanes in the second period with 15 saves, as Carolina was outshooting them 27-14 through 40 minutes and looked the more energized team heading into the final frame with the game all square at two.

"They're a good team. They know how to play the game well. They're very well-coached and well-rehearsed," Skinner said. "They know how to get pucks to the net and how to score goals. They got a lot of talent up front. That's kind of how the game goes. We get our chances, they get theirs, and a lot of momentum shifts in between periods.

"We were able to fight them off in the second. A lot of props go to our PK, especially when they got a couple in a row. We really fought hard tonight."

Carolina were looking more energized despite being the ones playing the second of a back-to-back on Saturday, having needed overtime on Friday to beat the Vancouver Canucks 4-3 in the first half. Since 2022-23, the Hurricanes were an impressive 17-2-4 (.826 win percentage) in the second half of a back-to-back and were showing no signs of fatigue after thoroughly outbattling the Oilers in the second period.

GIVE & TAKE TO OVERTIME

The Oilers and Hurricanes duked it out in the third period like you'd expect from two perennial contenders who've been close to winning the Stanley Cup in recent seasons. Still, Edmonton were wondering how they hadn't escaped with all two points after some of the chances that didn't go in for them.

Less than four minutes into the final frame, Leon Draisaitl looked to have had an open net for an easy backhand on a rebound in front of the Carolina crease that was incredibly put off the post by the outstretched stick of Anderson, who somehow got across to make a spectacular save on the German.

Head Coach Kris Knoblauch went to the trio of McDavi, Draisaitl and Hyman for the majority of the third period, and his decision to go nuclear led to a nice passing combination between the two Oilers forwards to put Edmonton back into the lead with 5:46 gone in the stanza.

Hyman dropped a pass to Draisaitl coming across the Hurricanes' blueline and took a hit to make the play before finding McDavid at the back door for a tap-in that marked the captain's second goal of the game, but there was a quick response on the cards for the hosts just 27 seconds later.

After the faceoff at centre ice, the Hurricanes regrouped through the neutral zone to find William Carrier coming through the middle with speed to make a powerful drive to the net, leading to a loose pick and easy finish from captain Jordan Stall to tie the game at 3-3 before the period's midway mark.

McDavid nearly had the hat trick to win the game for Edmonton as he watched his shot from between the circles flutter behind Andersen after catching a piece of the top of his right pad, lending the puck to sitting loose perilously inside the blue paint and the Oilers failing to find a way to bury it.

After a closely fought third period, the Oilers were going to overtime for the ninth time this season.

OVER IN AN INSTANT

It took the Oilers just 14 seconds in overtime for their league-renowned three-on-three group of McDavid, Draisaitl and Bouchard to secure them the extra point after it was left for McDavid behind the net by Bouchard and dropped to Draisaitl coming over the blueline for the quick snap-shot winner.

"Honestly, I think we've had better years at three-on-three," McDavid said. "Our little three-man group there, we've had lots of opportunities and lots of games going into overtime where we haven't been able to be the difference in a lot of nights. That's what we get paid to do: we get paid to be the difference.

"Tonight, we were able to do that. We've got lots of experience playing three-on-three. We enjoy it. I'm playing with two special players out there, so it's always exciting."

McDavid picked up the puck from Bouchard behind Edmonton's net and wound up for a full-ice ash and zone entry, dropping the puck to Draisaitl before the German let fly a quick snap shot that left Andersen no chance before it was hitting the mesh behind him to give the Oilers the 4-3 victory.

"It took a lot," McDavid said of the victory. "They're a great team over there. Yeah. We just dug in and were kind of hanging on for a little bit. I'm sounding like a broken record when we win, but we just found a way to win a game. It's painful to say, but they're a really good team over there. We hung on."