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 Called up from the AHL's Bakersfield Condors just hours before the
game, the center scored twice -- including the winner with 1:02 left
in regulation -- to spur the Oilers to a 4-3 win over the Habs on
Thursday.
"Basically, after the first period, we didn't play our game, that
pretty much sums it up," said Canadiens goaltender Carey Price.
Draisaitl ripped home the winner from the slot, capping a three-goal
third period for an Oilers team that had six regulars out of the
lineup.
Draisaitl arrived in Edmonton at 2:30 p.m. and the game started at 7
p.m. local time.
"Getting on a plane isn't that bad. Staying in a nice hotel and
playing in the NHL. I don't think it's that hard," said Oilers coach
Todd McClellan.
The winning goal was set up by center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. And
Draisaitl was quick to pass on the credit.
"Every time you have an open net like that, it feels really good,"
Draisaitl said. "That play was all Nuge. He forechecked and stripped
the puck and made an unbelievable pass. Huge credit to him."
But the moment wasn't lost on Nugent-Hopkins.
"I know Leon had a long day today, he was up really early, he was
flying for the most part," said Nugent-Hopkins. "I thought he did a
really good job stepping right in. There's no sit-back from him,
which is really good to see out of him."
Draisaitl scored near the end of the second period, and defenseman
Brandon Davidson walked into a shot at 6:15 of the third before left
winger Benoit Pouliot tied it at 3 on a breakaway at 10:43.
It was all Habs in the first period, as they took a 3-0 lead before
the opening intermission.
Pouliot put his team in a hole with a foolish offensive-zone holding
penalty, and the Canadiens took the lead on the ensuing man
advantage. After a series of tape-to-tape passes got the Oilers
running around in their own zone, right winger Brendan Gallagher was
left alone in front of the goal. He tipped home Subban's point shot.
The Canadiens then scored twice in a 55-second span late in the
first.
Center Torrey Mitchell made it 2-0 after he snatched up a giveaway
from Oilers defenseman Oscar Klefbom and ripped a wrist shot into
the roof of the net. Then, center Alex Galchenyuk arrived on the
back post to tap home defenseman Andrei Markov's picture-perfect
pass from the boards to make it 3-0.
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And then it caved in for the Habs.
"We had a really strong start we were playing the right way and we
started the second period wrong," said Habs coach Michel Therrien.
"We tried to be fancy and it was really frustrating to see our team
play that way and we got what we deserved."
Nugent-Hopkins said the mood in the Oilers' dressing room after the
first was positive after the first period.
"Just a constant reminder that we had 40 minutes left," he said.
"It's a long game, you don't want to start down 3-0 to a team like
that. But, we just reminded ourselves, each other we had 40 minutes
left and we have the group that's able to come back with that much
time, to score three or four goals tonight. And that's what we did
tonight, it's a great character win for us."
Late in the second, the Oilers got life when Draisaitl bounced a
puck off Price's shoulder and over the line to make it 3-1 to set up
the third-period charge. Video review was needed to confirm the
call.
NOTES: Canadiens D Jeff Petry returned to Edmonton for the first
time since being sent by the Oilers to Montreal at the 2014-15 trade
deadline. Petry played 295 games with the Oilers. ... RW Jordan
Eberle (shoulder), D Griffin Reinhart (undisclosed), D Jeff Schultz
(back), LW Lauri Korpikoski (leg), LW Rob Klinkhammer (leg) and LW
Matt Hendricks (foot) were out for Edmonton. ... Eberle was placed
on long-term injured reserve on Thursday, and Schultz is expected to
be out 2-4 weeks. ... Montreal scratched RW Alexander Semin, D
Jarred Tinordi and D Greg Pateryn. ... The Oilers scratched LW Luke
Gazdic.
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