The Edmonton Oilers stormed back from a three-goal third-period deficit to defeat the San Jose Sharks by a score of 4-3 in overtime at Rogers Place on Thursday (Jan. 29).
Zach Hyman scored at 1:06 of sudden death for the Oilers, who also got goals from Evan Bouchard, Leon Draisaitl, and Connor McDavid. Forwards Adam Gaudette, Collin Graf and Michael Misa accounted for San Jose’s goals.
Netminder Connor Ingram made 17 saves to backstop Edmonton to a win. Sharks goalie Yaroslav Askarov was beaten four times on 32 shots.
It was the third straight win for the Oilers, who improved to 28-19-8. Edmonton now has 64 points, tied for the most in the Pacific Division with the Vegas Golden Knights.
Oilers Start Slow, Finish Strong
From an Oilers perspective, one’s perception of this game probably depends on whether they’re a glass-half-full or glass-half-empty person.
On one hand, Edmonton had an absolutely dreadful start, giving up two goals in the opening 95 seconds and another at 11:40 to fall behind 3-0. It was the third time in the last four games, all at home, that the Oilers have found themselves trailing before the game was even four minutes old.
Zach Hyman, Edmonton Oilers (Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images)
On the other hand, the Oilers made an epic comeback, scoring three times in the third period, including goals from McDavid at 16:55 and Bouchard at 19:01 with Ingram pulled for the extra attacker. It was the second time in the last three games that the Oilers have scored the tying goal in the final minute of regulation, before going on to win in overtime.
Is it more a positive that the Oilers can never really be counted out of a game, or a negative that they so often take a while to get going?
Either way, trailing 3-0 going into the third period is not a position any team ever wants to find themselves in. To give an idea of how improbable the events of Thursday are, this was the first time in 20 games this season that San Jose lost when leading after two periods, and just the third time since 2010 that the Oilers have scored twice with their goalie pulled in the same game.
Ingram Shows Resiliency
There were probably a lot of fans calling for Oilers bench boss Kris Knobaluch to pull Ingram from the game, after the 28-year-old goalie gave up three goals on just five shots against.
But the coach’s faith in his netminder was rewarded: For the final 48:20 of regulation plus another 1:06 of overtime, Ingram shut the door, stopping the final 15 shots he faced. It was an impressive show of resiliency for Ingram, who was pulled from his previous start, against the Washington Capitals on Saturday (Jan. 24), after allowing three goals on 12 shots.
Giving Ingram the opportunity to bounce back might have been front of mind for Knoblauch, who expressed some regret over pulling Ingram against the Capitals, even though the Oilers did ultimately win that game with Tristan Jarry between the pipes.
“We had a conversation about that situation (on Saturday) about what was going on in my mind when I made that decision to pull him,” Knoblauch said during his media availability following Thursday’s game. “He’s been playing really well for us, and sometimes it’s not just about him, (it’s about) what were our team’s needs at that moment, and that’s part of the reason why we made that change, but we need him. We need both our goalies playing well.”
Since being recalled from the Bakersfield Condors of the American Hockey League (AHL) last month, Ingram is 6-3-1 with a goals-against average of 2.46 and a save percentage of .905.
Bouchard Stays Hot
Along with his game-tying goal, Bouchard picked up a pair of assists and finished the game with a plus/minus of plus-2 on Thursday. That gives him a total of four goals, six assists, and a plus-9 rating over the last three games, making him one of only three defencemen in NHL history with at least 10 points and a plus/minus of plus-9 over a span of three games. The other two: Paul Coffey and Bobby Orr.
Related: All of Evan Bouchard’s Incredible Stats in Oilers’ Win vs. Capitals
Bouchard now has eight goals and 14 assists in January. He’s the first Oilers defenceman to record at least 20 points in a month in exactly 40 years, since Coffey registered 10 goals and 16 assists in January 1986.
Incidentally, Bouchard’s big month began after he was snubbed from the Canadian Olympic team roster announcement on Dec. 31. He has more points than any defenceman in the NHL since then, leading to a growing chorus of voices suggesting that the Ontario native should be on Team Canada.
Oilers Put End to 3-Win Jinx
Following their victories over Washington on Saturday (Jan. 24) and the Anaheim Ducks on Monday (Jan. 26), the Oilers hit the ice Thursday looking for the team’s first three-game win streak of 2025-26.
Incredibly, each of the previous nine occasions that they had posted back-to-back wins this season, the Oilers lost the next game, and for most of Thursday’s tilt, it looked like they were about to go 0-for-10.
It took this season’s Oilers until Game No. 55 to record a three-game win streak, which ties the 1999-00 Oilers for most games from the start of the season before winning three in a row.
Now Edmonton looks to win four straight regular season games for the first time since last April, when the Oilers host the Minnesota Wild on Saturday (Jan. 31) night.