GAME RECAP: Rangers 4, Oilers 3 (OT)

EDMONTON, AB – Not the finish we were hoping for.

Defenceman Darnell Nurse scored twice and winger Matt Savoie notched his first-career NHL goal, but the New York Rangers were able to erase a two-goal deficit in the third period before J.T. Miller scored the winner in overtime on Thursday night in a 4-3 victory over the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Place.

Nurse responded for the Oilers just 1:07 after Jonny Brodzinski gave the Rangers the lead in the first period before being awarded his second goal of the contest off an official review midway through the middle frame, making it 3-1 after Savoie was credited with his first NHL goal on the power play.

During the final frame, the Rangers rallied back with tallies from defenceman Braden Schneider and forward Taylor Raddysh 3:36 apart, before their penalty kill earned a crucial stop late in regulation and early in overtime to enable captain J.T. Miller to cap the comeback less than three minutes into sudden death.

The Oilers fall to 5-4-3 on the season and will wrap up their three-game homestand on Saturday when they host the Chicago Blackhawks at Rogers Place.

SILVER SURFER ADAM HENRIQUE

Adam Henrique is one of a kind in many ways.

Being the only player in Oilers franchise history to play in his 1,000th career game with the Blue & Orange is one of them.

Before puck drop, Henrique was joined on the ice with his wife and two young daughters to be presented with the Silver Stick by Oilers CEO & President of Hockey Operations Jeff Jackson – an honour only 409 players in League history had earned after he became the latest by suiting up for his 1,000th NHL game last week in Ottawa.

Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Jari Kurri, Kevin Lowe, Paul Coffey, the list goes on – none of those famous Oilers players ever crossed the 1,000 NHL-game threshold while wearing an Oilers jersey, and Henrique became the first by reaching the milestone in his 115th contest with the club.

Henrique has been a well-respected veteran presence in the Oilers locker room since arriving via trade from the Anaheim Ducks in April 2024, contributing some key goals for the club over two Stanley Cup Final runs and being an important penalty-killer while helping guide some of the team's younger players.

"It's an amazing accomplishment," Bouchard said. "I've been getting to know Rico for a while now. It doesn't surprise me he's played a thousand the way he plays on the ice and the teammate he is in the locker room. We're looking forward to many more with him."

Initially selected by the New Jersey Devils in the third round (82nd overall) of the 2008 NHL Draft, Henrique has played for the Devils, the Ducks and now the Oilers over 16 NHL seasons.

THE DOCTOR DELIVERS QUICK RESULTS

Thankfully, the Doctor was on call quickly after the Oilers gave up the game's opening goal.

A mistake made by Evan Bouchard along the blueline trying to throw it across to Mattias Ekholm turned into a 1-0 lead for the Rangers, with the turnover opening up a breakaway for forward Jonny Brodzinski that he backhanded past Stuart Skinner 5:44 into the first period to open the scoring.

"It's tough to win this league, and teams are very skilled," Nurse said. "When you feed their transition, no matter who you're playing against, you know they're going to make you pay."

Just 1:07 later, Nurse helped stitch up the wound for the Oilers with the help of Jack Roslovic and Jake Walman, with the two exchanging passes and opening up for a one-timer for Nurse in the right circle that slid five-hole between the legs of Igor Shesterkin to equalize on his second goal of the campaign.

With the goal, Nurse now has two goals and four assists in 12 games this season, sitting in the 95th percentile for shots on goal (25) and the 92nd percentile in max skating speed (22.45 MPH) coming into Thursday's meeting with the Rangers.

The Oilers were 52-18-9 in games where Nurse scored a goal.

Henrique, playing in his 1,005th NHL game on Thursday, has really found himself in a groove lately and had a terrific chance alongside Isaac Howard a few minutes later to give the Oilers the lead, with the rookie's takeaway along the wall opening up a scoring chance for the veteran in the slot that he put wide.

Despite being outshot 15-10 by the Rangers, the Oilers had a much better starting frame than Tuesday's tough first period, where they conceded two goals in the opening 20 minutes to the Mammoth before answering back in the middle stanza with five goals to rally to a 6-3 victory.

SAVOIE CREDITED WITH FIRST NHL GOAL

Doesn't matter how pretty it was – you'll always remember your first.

St. Albert product Matt Savoie was credited with his first-career NHL goal late in a second-period power play for the Oilers, crashing the crease and having Henrique's second effort from the left of Shesterkin deflect in off his right foot to give the Oilers a 2-1 lead at 11:12 of the middle frame.

Jumping out on the ice with Henrique after Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and David Tomasek changed, Savoie went to the blue paint when Draisaitl moved it down to Henrique on the left side before the veteran's second attempt was batted back towards goal and caught a piece of the rookie's skate on its way through.

The 21-year-old became the fourth different Oilers skater this season to score their first-career NHL goal, joining Noah Philp, Isaac Howard and David Tomasek, and the 172nd different player to record their first goal in an Oilers uniform.

With the secondary assist, Draisaitl extended his point streak to seven games, while the Oilers power play continued its recent tear by improving to 6-for-13 (46 percent) over its last five games.

SLIDING INTO THE NURSE'S OFFICE

Upon further review, that's two goals tonight for DR25.

After dumping the puck off to Howard when crossing the blueline, Nurse followed his path to the net and opened up on the right side for a low pass from Howard, shovelling it quickly towards goal and making for a difficult save for Shesterkin as half of his body slid perilously behind the goal line.

"I thought he was fighting it, and he kind of went into the net, so I wasn't sure," Nurse said. "But I couldn't see where the puck was from where I was."

After an official review was called to see if the puck completely crossed the line, with the puck being seen sitting on top of Shesterkin's left pad in the net, Nurse was given his second goal of the game to increase Edmonton's advantage over New York to 3-1 with 9:36 left in the middle frame.

Nurse's third goal of the season gives the Hamilton, Ont. product the most goals he's ever scored in October and his fourth-career multi-goal game – the last time he achieved this feat being Nov. 14, 2024 against the Nashville Predators.

With assists on both of Nurse’s goals, Walman now has seven points in his last six games (1G, 6A).

BLUESHIRTS EARN A POINT

The Rangers weren't about to roll over.

With two goals in 3:46 midway through the final frame, the Rangers earned a point with their efforts by capitalizing on Edmonton's turnover, pushing the game to overtime before finishing off an important penalty kill in sudden death and capping off the comeback victory on J.T. Miller's game-winning tally.

"Just not clean enough with the puck," Draisaitl said. "Turnovers turned the game a little bit, so we just have to clean those up."

"The time's now to clean those up."

With the Rangers trailing by two, Will Cuylle made a nice move by chipping the puck around Jake Walman to open a two-on-one with Taylor Raddysh, where Darnell Nurse made the initial intervention before poking it into the path of Braden Schneider to finish it off at the end of a broken play to make it 3-2.

Just under four minutes later, an attempt by Evan Bouchard to clear the puck off a zone entry from the Rangers was knocked down by Conor Sheary, leaving it for Taylor Raddysh to pick up the loose puck outside the blueline, weave into the slot and fire it under the glove of Skinner with 7:56 remaining in regulation.

"Obviously, it's happening a little more," Bouchard said. "Even that second turnover that led to the goal, we're not even really trying to make a play. It's off a stick and the back of our net, so that's definitely got to get cleaned up. But playing harder is going to have to be something that we have to do."

The Oilers' red-hot power play in recent games was given a golden opportunity to restore their team's lead in the final minute with Mika Zibanejad in the box for high-sticking Jack Roslovic, but the Rangers had a heroic penalty kill that carried over into overtime, where the visitors were able to steal the extra point.

J.T. Miller pucked up speed with the puck on his stick in the neutral zone before getting past Leon Draisaitl, cutting towards the Oilers' crease and pulling it to his forehand to quickly fire it far side on Skinner with 2:46 gone in overtime, giving the Rangers a come-from-behind 4-3 victory.

"Little coverage responsibilities where there could probably be a little more communication, but it shouldn't have been a grade-A scoring chance," Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said. "We should have been able to deflect that, get that outside and maybe give up shot, but certainly not him driving to the middle of the net."

The Oilers looked like a confident team in the final 40 minutes of Tuesday's win over Utah after a lacklustre opening frame, but tonight was the complete opposite of that performance, seeing them fall apart in the third period with two goals against, only to lose the extra point in overtime.

"I think in those situations to grab your game back, just get back to being simple," Nurse said. "I think sometimes when you're forcing the plays, you're thinking the next one's gonna be the one that gets through, and that's been the case a little bit. So when we're losing momentum or feel the other team coming, it's about simplifying your game and getting back to the hard work."