Connor McDavid accomplished what the home fans wanted to see on Thursday, and then he allowed them to go home happy as the Edmonton Oilers beat the Nashville Predators 3-2 in overtime.
After collecting his 1,000th career NHL point in the second period, McDavid fed Darnell Nurse in the three-on-three extra period with a no-look, behind-the-back pass. Nurse’s one-timer flew past Nashville goalie Scott Wedgewood to extend the Oilers’ winning streak to three games.
Nurse finished with two goals and an assist, while McDavid had a goal and an assist. Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl had a pair of assists, including the secondary helper on the winning goal.
That, though, wasn’t the only celebration for the Oilers on Thursday.
McDavid tied the game 1-1 with a second-period goal, becoming the fourth fastest and fourth youngest to reach 1,000 career points with some help from a couple of his longtime Oilers teammates.
During four-on-four play, Nurse got a turnover in the Oilers’ defensive end, and his feed to Draisaitl in the neutral zone created a two-on-one opportunity with McDavid. As they both continued toward the net, Draisaitl slid it to McDavid, who snapped it past Nashville goalie Scott Wedgewood for the milestone point 2:44 into the period.
Less than three minutes later, Nurse got his first goal of the season, beating Wedgewood with a sharp-angle shot near the goal line. Brett Kulak and Mattias Janmark got the assists on the go-ahead goal.
The Predators stayed in the game, thanks to the play of Wedgewood, and they finally converted late in the third period. Cole Smith got a breakaway opportunity and beat Edmonton goalie Calvin Pickard between the pads with 2:48 remaining in regulation. Zachary L’Heureux and Jeremy Lauzon assisted on the tying goal.
As the crowd waited for history, Nashville took the lead on its first shot at 8:22 of the first period. Michael McCarron, alone at the top of the slot, deflected Roman Josi’s pass past Pickard.
With the Predators playing the first of back-to-back games, Wedgewood started for the fourth time this season. He made 31 saves as Nashville earned at least a point for the third straight contest (1-0-2).
Pickard saved 21 shots.
