Evan Bouchard scores in overtime as Edmonton Oilers edge Minnesota Wild 4-3 at Rogers Place

By Vancouver Television Sports Desk

EDMONTON — Evan Bouchard scored a power-play goal at 3:32 of overtime as the Edmonton Oilers recovered for a 4-3 win against the Minnesota Wild at Rogers Place on Tuesday. The goal came on a 4-on-3 advantage after Minnesota was penalized for too many men on the ice.

Bouchard, who also had an assist, finished off a play that started with a pass from Connor McDavid. Bouchard’s shot was a wrist shot from the top of the left circle, placed high on the short side beyond Jesper Wallstedt.

Minnesota did not stay down after falling behind early. Kirill Kaprizov cut the Oilers’ lead to 3-2 at 10:30 of the third period, taking a pass into the slot from Matt Boldy on the rush and scoring high glove-side past Devon Levi.

Ryan Hartman tied the game at 3-3 at 13:07, collecting a backhand pass from behind the net by Bobby Brink and sending the puck past Levi’s glove from the slot to force overtime. Leon Draisaitl had already provided Edmonton with scoring through the middle of the game, and Connor McDavid continued to drive the offense.

Draisaitl scored twice in the contest, while McDavid finished with three assists. The performance extended McDavid’s season-opening point streak to nine games for the Oilers (7-1-1), who have won seven of eight. Levi made 27 saves for Edmonton, and Wallstedt finished with 28 saves for Minnesota.

McDavid’s ongoing production included three-assist output in this matchup, bringing his total to 26 points during the streak, including six goals and 20 assists. Kaprizov added an assist for the Wild, while Boldy had two assists. The Wild moved to 6-2-2 and had won four of five after entering Tuesday with momentum, having won two straight and four of five (4-1-0).

The scoring began in the first period with Joel Eriksson Ek giving Minnesota a 1-0 lead at 3:32. Kaprizov set up the sequence by sending a pass from behind the net to Eriksson Ek, who took a shot in tight on Levi’s left pad, then kicked the puck back to his stick and sent it around the other pad.

At 17:15 of the first period, a review was conducted on a play in which Eriksson Ek took a series of point-blank shots in a crowded crease. The review confirmed that the puck had not crossed the goal line.

Edmonton responded on the power play late in the opening frame. With three seconds left in the first period, Draisaitl tied the game 1-1 during a 5-on-3 advantage. The goal came on a low one-timer past Wallstedt’s glove after McDavid delivered a no-look cross-ice pass to the right face-off dot.

In the second period, Draisaitl struck again while the Oilers were still on the power play at the start of the frame. At 1:03, he scored his second goal to give Edmonton a 2-1 lead, taking a feed from behind the net from McDavid and sending the puck far side past Wallstedt’s blocker.

Edmonton pushed the lead to 3-1 at 6:01 of the second period when Mathieu Joseph scored shortly after an Oilers power play ended. Joseph converted a rebound of Alex Formenton’s slap shot from the slot, setting up the late scoring surge from Minnesota that ultimately carried the game to overtime.