Hitchcock wins Oilers coaching debut against Sharks

SAN JOSE --Ken Hitchcock won his coaching debut for the Edmonton Oilers when Leon Draisaitl scored 51 seconds into overtime for a 4-3 victory against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center on Tuesday.

Draisaitl won it after Connor McDavid's cross-crease pass deflected off Sharks forward Joe Pavelski's stick, hit Draisaitl's skate and went inside the left post.
Hitchcock replaced Todd McLellan, who was fired on Tuesday.
WATCH: [All Oilers vs. Sharks highlights]
"I was more worried that it was past my bedtime and I wasn't going to be able to stay up," Hitchcock said. "I don't think I've seen a third period all year out West. But for me, we just got better and better as the game went on. We got better in the second, we were really good in the third.
"We really got on the grind. There's a lot of weight and size in this group, a lot more than I can remember, and we started to lean pretty hard in the third period and used it, and it was very, very effective. It was a great win."

Joonas Donskoi, Marcus Sorensen and Logan Couture scored, and Martin Jones made 19 saves for San Jose (11-7-4). Joe Thornton had an assist to tie Mario Lemieux for 11th place in NHL history with 1,033.
"Tonight's a disappointing one because I thought if we had gotten a little bit better effort from everybody, from 20 guys, we should have gotten two points," Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said. "We didn't have enough participants tonight."
Draisaitl and McDavid each had a goal and two assists, and Mikko Koskinen made 22 saves for Edmonton (10-10-1), which had lost six of its past seven games.
"That's what it has to be (a wake-up call)," McDavid said. "Anytime you bring in a new coach, that's kind of the last option I would say before shipping everyone out. This is a chance for us to come together and turn this around."
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins tied it 2-2 at 1:46 of the second period with a shorthanded goal. He took a pass from Kyle Brodziak on a 2-on-1 and beat Jones short side from the left circle.

"I think it's big for us as a group as players, and obviously it's huge to have him come in on the first day and get that two points for him," Nugent-Hopkins said.
Couture gave the Sharks a 3-2 lead at 19:04 when he toe dragged around Oilers defenseman Adam Larsson and scored low in the left circle with a wrist shot that beat Koskinen over his shoulder.

Drake Caggiula tied it 3-3 at 3:32 of the third period, redirecting a pass from McDavid at the top of the crease on an odd-man rush.
"You never want to give up leads," Couture said. "We turned one over on their blue line. Especially when you're out there against McDavid, you can't do that. There are too many odd-man rushes. It wasn't horrible tonight. It was better than it has been, but still too many."
Donskoi gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead 45 seconds into the game on a rebound in front.
McDavid, who led all forwards with 23:57 of ice time, tied it 1-1 at 8:09 on a one-timer in the slot. The goal was his 100th in the NHL.

"We were able to double him up in the third period because there was no power plays," Hitchcock said. "He came on every second shift in the third period and played great. [The first line] was great. He played great."
Sorensen scored to make it 2-1 at 10:32. Thornton found him with a pass from below the goal line, and Sorensen beat Koskinen glove side on a one-timer.

They said it

"He just wants us to play hard. That's one thing that all of his teams have had. They bring their effort each and every night and I think our effort was good tonight. " -- Oilers captain Connor McDavid on Ken Hitchcock
"I was grinding hard. I told them I was going to do it and I was pushing hard. I needed about four shifts to make judgments and then I just started pushing, I started coaching." -- Oilers coach Ken Hitchcock
"This was the first time we've seen them this year. We knew they'd be desperate and a little smarter." -- Sharks captain Joe Pavelski

Need to know

Couture's goal was his first in 11 games. ... McDavid has eight points (three goals, five assists) in a four-game point streak. … Hertl returned to the lineup after missing the past two games with a lower-body injury. ... Pavelski 's goal streak ended at four games, but he had an assist to extend his point streak to five games (six goals, four assists).

What's next

Oilers:At the Anaheim Ducks on Friday (4 p.m. ET; FS-W, SNW, NHL.TV)
Sharks: Host the Vancouver Canucks on Friday (9 p.m. ET; NBCSCA, SNP, NHL.TV)