Oilers rally from 3 down in 3rd, top Sharks in OT

EDMONTON -- Zach Hyman scored at 1:06 of overtime, and the Edmonton Oilers rallied from a three-goal, third period deficit for a 4-3 win against the San Jose Sharks at Rogers Place on Thursday.

Evan Bouchard tied the game 3-3 at 19:01 of the third period with a long-distance slap shot through traffic, and Hyman scored the game-winner off a cross-ice pass from Connor McDavid with a one-timer from the left face-off circle that went in off the left post.

“Never in doubt,” Edmonton forward Kasperi Kapanen said. “That's hockey sometimes, you start late. But as the game went on we knew we had to make a push on the third and this team is always in it. That's a good example, right there.

“As a good team, we need to start better. The first period was bad, and then after that I thought we were playing better. Big two points.”

Leon Draisaitl and Bouchard each had a goal and two assists, and McDavid had a goal and an assist for the Oilers (28-19-8), who have won three in a row for the first time this season after failing to do so in nine previous opportunities.

“Nice to have three in a row, but more importantly we beat a team to keep them behind us,’ Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch said. “They've got games in hand on us and we want to finish as high as we can in the standings, especially in our division.

“The good teams find ways to win hockey games. And finally we don't have to listen to the, ‘We haven't won three in a row,’ anymore.”

Connor Ingram made 17 saves.

“I’ve kind of figured out around here, you just have to be good,” Ingram said. “You don’t have to steal games or do things like that, you’ve just got to make the saves you’re supposed to. When you’ve got some of the best players in the world, they’re going to do their job too.

“So, even when you get behind in the start of the game, you’re just thinking, ‘Shut it down, we’ve still got a chance at this.’ We can score goals. We can come back on anybody. So, it’s fun to watch from down there. It’s more fun to be on this side.”

Collin Graf, Adam Gaudette and Michael Misa scored for the Sharks (27-21-4), who had won three of their previous four. Yaroslav Askarov made 28 saves.

“I think our 6-on-5 was not good enough and that’s something that we’ll look at,” San Jose coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “There were moments in the third where we needed to continue to make plays and push forward and we didn’t do enough of that.

“They’re the best offensive team in the world and you have to defend the two best players in the world. We did some good things, we did some things we could get better at.”

Draisaitl cut the deficit to 3-1 at 1:34 of the third. Bouchard's one timer from the point deflected off Sharks defenseman Dmitry Orlov in the slot and through the pads of Askarov before Draisaitl poked the loose puck over the goal line as it sat in the crease.

McDavid brought the Oilers to within 3-2 at 16:55, scoring with a wrist shot from the left circle.

Both McDavid's and Bouchard's goals came while Ingram was pulled for an extra attacker.

“I think we went into defense mode a bit too early,” San Jose defenseman Timothy Liljegren said. “We got back on our heels a little bit. I thought they had a good push and we sat back a little bit too much and they scored.

“Edmonton is a very good team, they showed that the last several years. It’s not an easy game. I thought we played well for 40 minutes. There are always things we can do better, but I thought in the third we sat back too much and let them take over the game.”

Graf opened the scoring just 26 seconds into the first period. Will Smith sent a cross-ice pass to Graf in the left face-off circle, where he put a wrist shot into an open net.

“I thought we played pretty well for 56 minutes, or whatever it was,” Graf said. “We just have to try to be better in all facets of the game. They’re going to get their chances and it’s on us to try to limit them as much as we can and try to keep them to the outside, and we did a pretty good job until the end there.”

Gaudette made it 2-0 at 1:35. William Eklund forced a turnover in the neutral zone and fed the puck to Gaudette, who skated in on a breakaway and lifted a backhander over Ingram's right pad.

Misa extended the lead to 3-0 at 11:40 after his snap shot from the right circle rebounded off Ingram and then deflected in off Bouchard.

Barclay Goodrow appeared to put the Sharks up 4-0 at 6:42 of the second period when he scored into an open net, but officials waved it off because of goaltender interference against Zack Ostapchuk.

NOTES: The Oilers overcame a three-goal deficit in the third period for the first time since Nov. 26, 2022 (4-3 win at the New York Rangers). ... Bouchard has 11 points (four goals, seven assists) in a four-game streak. ... McDavid (four goals, five assists) and Draisaitl (one goal, nine assists) each have three-game point streaks. ... McDavid became the fifth player in NHL history to record 10 career 60-assist seasons, joining Wayne Gretzky (17), Paul Coffey (11), Ray Bourque (10) and Adam Oates (10). ... Sharks forward Macklin Celebrini extended his point streak to three games (three goals, four assists).