The Edmonton Oilers overcame a three-goal deficit in the third period to defeat the San Jose Sharks 4-3 in overtime at Rogers Place on Thursday. Zach Hyman scored the game-winning goal just over a minute into overtime, completing the comeback for Edmonton.
Evan Bouchard tied the game late in regulation with a long slap shot through traffic. Hyman then converted a cross-ice pass from Connor McDavid, firing a one-timer from the left face-off circle that deflected off the post and into the net.
“Never in doubt,” said Edmonton forward Kasperi Kapanen. “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 contributed a goal and two assists, while McDavid added both a goal and an assist for Edmonton (28-19-8). This marks their first three-game winning streak of the season after nine previous unsuccessful attempts.
“Nice to have three in a row, but more importantly we beat a team to keep them behind us,” said Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch. “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.”
Goaltender Connor Ingram made 17 saves for Edmonton.
“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.”
For San Jose (27-21-4), Collin Graf opened scoring less than half a minute into play with help from Will Smith before Adam Gaudette extended their lead following an assist by William Eklund off a neutral zone turnover. Michael Misa pushed it further with another goal midway through the first period.
San Jose goaltender Yaroslav Askarov recorded 28 saves during regulation and overtime.
“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.”
Leon Draisaitl began Edmonton’s rally early in third period by poking home his own rebound after Bouchard’s shot deflected off Dmitry Orlov’s stick. McDavid brought them within one with under four minutes left using his wrist shot from left circle; both these goals came while Ingram was pulled for an extra attacker.
San Jose defenseman Timothy Liljegren reflected on how momentum shifted: “I think we went into defense mode a bit too early,” he said. “We got back on our heels a little bit…I thought they had a good push and we sat back…Edmonton is very good…It’s not an easy game…in third [period] we sat back too much and let them take over.”
Graf commented on San Jose’s performance: “I thought we played pretty well for 56 minutes…We just have to try to be better in all facets of game…They’re going get their chances…try limit them as much as can…did pretty good job until end there.”
Adam Gaudette’s breakaway tally followed by Misa’s rebound gave San Jose their early advantage; Barclay Goodrow appeared briefly add another but officials ruled goaltender interference negated goal.
The Oilers’ comeback marked their first time overcoming such deficit since November 2022 against New York Rangers. Evan Bouchard extended his point streak (four goals/seven assists) over four games; McDavid (four goals/five assists) and Draisaitl (one goal/nine assists) also continued multi-game streaks. McDavid became only fifth player NHL history with ten career seasons reaching sixty assists—joining Wayne Gretzky (17), Paul Coffey (11), Ray Bourque (10), Adam Oates (10). Sharks’ Macklin Celebrini has points now across last three games.
