Nugent-Hopkins scores in OT as Oilers jolt Blues

[December 20, 2016]  ST. LOUIS -- Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored 2:55 into overtime to give the Edmonton Oilers a 3-2 win over the St. Louis Blues on Monday night.

Nugent-Hopkins scored off a pass from Connor McDavid, who earned his league-leading 40th point of the season.

It was the sixth time in the Oilers' last nine games that they have gone to either overtime or a shootout.

St. Louis native Patrick Maroon scored his first career goal in his hometown to tie the game at 2-2 at 5:47 of the third period. He deflected a shot by Brandon Davidson past goalie Carter Hutton.

Vladimir Tarasenko had given the Blues a 2-1 lead with his 16th goal of the season just 33 seconds after the Oilers had tied the game 11:44 into the first period. Tarasenko was able to knock in a rebound after goalie Cam Talbot made the initial save on a shot by Robby Fabbri.

The goal was Tarasenko's 38th point of the season, two behind McDavid. McDavid played his fifth consecutive game without a goal. He has two assists in that span.

Tarasenko has 11 points in his last seven games, on three goals and eight assists.

The tying goal for the Oilers came from Tyler Pitlick, off a faceoff. Pitlick later left the game in the second period after he suffered an apparent lower-body injury when he was checked into the boards by St. Louis' Jori Lehtera.

Kyle Brodziak had given the Blues an early 1-0 lead, capitalizing on an Oilers' turnover at 4:20 of the first period.

Hutton, who was celebrating his 31st birthday, stopped 32 shots in his first start since Dec. 3.

NOTES: D Eric Gryba was in the Oilers' lineup for the first time since Nov. 17. He missed 15 games with an undisclosed injury. ... After being a healthy scratch on Saturday night, LW Benoit Pouliot was also back for the Oilers, taking the place of LW Taylor Beck. ... RW Nail Yakupov remained in the lineup for the Blues in place of RW Dmitrij Jaskin, who was a healthy scratch for the fourth consecutive game. ... Monday night's game began a stretch of three games in four nights for the Blues, who play in Dallas on Tuesday night and Tampa on Thursday. ... It was the opener of a three-game trip for the Oilers, who play Wednesday night in Arizona.

[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.