Alexandre Carrier scored 2:12 into overtime to the give the Nashville Predators a 4-3 win over the Edmonton Oilers Monday night.
The Oilers are winless in their last three games (0-1-2).
Oilers head coach Jay Woodcroft said Monday’s game was the definition of a seesaw.
“We were never able to get the lead on them,” he said after the game. “I thought our team fought hard (and) this game could have gone either way.
“In the end, they made a play in overtime and they found a way to get the extra point.”
Mattias Ekholm slammed a rebound past Oilers goaltender Jack Campbell to give the Predators the lead 4:35 into the game.
Jesse Puljujarvi picked up his second goal of the season and his first since Oct. 26 when his bad angle shot knuckled through Nashville netminder Juuse Saros.
Early in the second, a point shot from the Predators’ Jordan Gross deflected in off the leg of Oilers defenceman Tyson Barrie.
Edmonton captain Connor McDavid set up Ryan Nugent-Hopkins for a power-play goal less than three minutes later, but Matt Duchene came back with a power-play strike for the Preds.
Nugent-Hopkins fired the puck off the post and in for another power-play marker before the third was two minutes old.
Campbell kept the game tied with several big saves in the ensuing moments, including a left pad denial of Cody Glass.
Zach Hyman was all alone in front a minute into overtime but Saros came up with a right-pad stop. Carrier then fired a shot past Campbell’s glove on a two-on-one.
Nugent-Hopkins called the loss frustrating and said his team expected Nashville to play hard.
“It’s not a team that goes away easily,” he said. “(I) thought we were pretty prepared for it.
“We kept it a tight battle all game.”
Campbell finished with 31 saves. McDavid extended his point streak to 13 games.
“You can go through adversity like this, but it’s the way you bounce back that shows the character of your team, so looking for a big win in Dallas,” Nugent-Hopkins said.
The Oilers (17-14-2) will play in Dallas on Wednesday. You can listen to live coverage of the game on 630 CHED, beginning with The Faceoff Show at 6 p.m. The actual game starts at 7:30 p.m.
–With files from James Dunn, 630 CHED
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