Oilers rally late, beat Blues in shootout

[December 06, 2018]  Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Connor McDavid tallied shootout goals to rally the Edmonton Oilers past the host St. Louis Blues 3-2 on Wednesday.

The pair beat Blues goalie Jake Allen as Edmonton won the extra session 2-1 after Tyler Bozak opened it with a goal for St. Louis.

Nugent-Hopkins and Oscar Klefbom scored goals for the Oilers, who recovered from a 2-0 deficit against the Blues to split their brief two-game road swing in Dallas and St. Louis.

McDavid returned to the lineup after a one-game absence caused by illness and assisted on Klefbom's game-tying goal in the last minute of regulation. He rang in the deciding goal in the shootout to break a 1-1 tie.

Edmonton goalie Cam Talbot made his first start since Nov. 25 and had 28 saves.

Ivan Barbashev and Brayden Schenn had goals for the Blues, who lost their second straight. Allen stopped 34 shots.

The game marked the first meeting between the NHL's most recent coaching hires -- St. Louis' Craig Berube and Edmonton's Ken Hitchcock, who got their jobs on consecutive days in November.

St. Louis, which has been hit hard by injuries, played without five regulars -- Carl Gunnarsson, Robby Fabbri, Jaden Schwartz, Alex Pietrangelo and Alexander Steen -- but turned in a strong first period for a 2-0 lead.

The Blues' fourth line put the home side on the board first with a goal at 6:05 after St. Louis killed off a power play.

Edmonton Oilers goaltender Cam Talbot (33) makes a save against St. Louis Blues center Brayden Schenn (10) during shootouts at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

With puck possession behind the Edmonton goal, Oskar Sundqvist fed a pass to Barbashev in the slot. The Russian center then wristed a shot that brushed off Talbot's sweater and into the net for his third goal.

Schenn sliced through Edmonton's defense with the puck and drove into the offensive zone seven minutes later, then zipped a pass out to Chris Butler, who blasted a shot wide. Schenn potted the rebound off the end boards from a bad angle for his sixth marker at 13:32.

The Oilers pushed hard to start the second period, and Nugent-Hopkins flicked a puck between the skates of Robert Thomas and past Allen for his seventh goal at 4:04 to cut the deficit to 2-1.

With Talbot pulled and the Edmonton goal empty, Klefbom rocketed his third goal with 56 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 2-2.

--Field Level Media

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