Leon Draisaitl scored off the rush at 15:20 of overtime, converting a pass from Connor McDavid to give the Edmonton Oilers a 5-4 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday night.
The win gives the Oilers a 2-0 lead in the second-round series.
Edmonton failed to capitalize on a five-minute power play earlier in overtime when Vegas defenseman Nicolas Roy received a major penalty for cross-checking at 5:37. The Oilers didn’t waste their later opportunity when the NHL’s top offensive duo combined for the winner.
Vasily Podkolzin, Jake Walman, Darnell Nurse and Evander Kane also scored for the Oilers.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Viktor Arvidsson each contributed two assists for Edmonton.
Calvin Pickard made 28 saves for the Oilers, despite appearing shaken up when Vegas’ Tomas Hertl fell on his left leg in the third period.
Victor Olofsson led the Golden Knights with two power-play goals and an assist. Alex Pietrangelo added a goal and an assist, while William Karlsson also found the net for Vegas.
Jack Eichel recorded three assists, extending his points streak to five games. Mark Stone contributed two assists, also pushing his points streak to five games.
Adin Hill stopped 33 shots for the Golden Knights.
Game 3 is scheduled for Saturday night in Edmonton.
Kane gave the Oilers a 4-2 lead just 1:52 into the third period before Olofsson answered less than three minutes later, converting a cross-ice pass from Eichel.
Pietrangelo, who missed Game 1 due to illness, tied the game with 8:02 remaining on a shot from the right point.
The Golden Knights took the only goal in the first period when Olofsson scored on a power-play shot from the right circle. The play developed when Eichel passed to Stone, who found an open Olofsson below the goal for his first career playoff goal.
Edmonton responded with three consecutive goals in the second period, all from distance.
Karlsson redirected Eichel’s shot with 1:50 left in the second period to cut Edmonton’s lead to 3-2.
The Oilers, who trailed 1-0 after one period, now have a record six consecutive comeback victories in a single postseason.
Vegas has never been swept in its eight-year history. The Golden Knights rallied from a 2-0 deficit in 2021 to beat Colorado in six games, though that series began on the road. Vegas has been eliminated in five games just twice, including the 2018 Stanley Cup Final against Washington.
The Golden Knights’ 42-game playoff winning streak when scoring at least three goals ended Thursday night. According to Sportradar, it was the second-longest such streak in NHL history, behind only Montreal’s 52-game streak from 1945-57.
