Zach Hyman hits 40 goals in Edmonton Oilers win over Blues

Connor McDavid ended a 10-game goalless drought with the overtime winner as the Edmonton Oilers beat the St. Louis Blues 3-2 Wednesday night at Rogers Place.

The Oilers were slow out of the gate and fell behind 2-0 before the game was five minutes old. With Leon Draisaitl in the box for high sticking, Robert Thomas sniped a power play goal. Then Jordan Kyrou set up Pavel Buchnevich for a close range strike.

“(It was) a tough five minutes and we were lucky to get out of it just down two,” Connor McDavid said. “But we didn’t let it get to three and we clawed our way back in and scored a big goal at the end of the first to make it a game again.”

“That’s two games in a row we’ve done that,” Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner remarked post-game. “I’d say it’s time to learn that lesson and stop doing that in the first few minutes, but it’s all about how you react after that and I thought we did a great job–as we have been.”

Edmonton scored with 1:44 to go in the opening frame. Zach Hyman stayed with the puck in front on the power play and lifted in his 39th of the season.

Hyman bagged his 40th five minutes into the second. McDavid roared down the left side and set up Hyman for a chip in, tying the game 2-2.

“He’s the epitome of working for everything he’s got and he’s done that in spades,” McDavid said about Hyman. “Here in Edmonton he’s fit right in and he continues to score big goals for us.”

“Obviously, he’s playing with a pretty good player most nights with Connor centring him, but he’s got to find a way to do it and he’s pretty good around the net–whether it’s not getting his stick tied up or finding soft spots around the net–that’s hockey smarts,” Knoblauch said about Hyman.

Early in the third, Zack Bolduc appeared to have a sure goal, but Stuart Skinner moved across the crease and made the save with his outstretched blocker.

With 25.3 seconds left in overtime, McDavid’s shot from the left side ticked off Jordan Binnington and fluttered inside the far post.

Skinner finished with 32 saves.

The Oilers, 35-20-2, will visit the Seattle Kraken on Saturday (630 CHED, Face-off Show at 12:30 p.m., game at 2 p.m.).

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