Oilers Quick Hits: Draisaitl, Bouchard & McDavid
If the Edmonton Oilers were looking for a pulse, they found it Tuesday night at Rogers Place. Down 4-2 entering the third period against the Ottawa Senators, Edmonton stormed back for a 5-4 overtime win — the kind of game that reminds you just how dangerous this team can be when it flips the switch.
Leon Draisaitl led the charge with two goals and three assists, his first five-point night since December 2022. Evan Bouchard hammered home the overtime winner on the power play, and Zach Hyman tied it late with the extra attacker on the ice. Connor McDavid quietly added two more assists, continuing his climb up the NHL record books with his eighth career 70-assist season.
It wasn’t clean. It wasn’t tidy. But it was dramatic — and badly needed after the Oilers had dropped five of their previous six games.
The Game’s Turning Point
The shift came early in the third. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins tipped home a power-play goal at 1:52 to cut Ottawa’s lead to 4-3, and suddenly the building had life.
From there, Edmonton tilted the ice. They pushed. They simplified. They forced Ottawa onto its heels. Hyman’s 6-on-5 goal with 1:25 left tied it, and once the game hit overtime, it felt inevitable. When Bouchard blasted home the winner with the man advantage at 1:50 of OT, it capped a dominant final frame.
For Ottawa, special teams were the difference — in the wrong way. For Edmonton, they were the lifeline.
Key Takeaways for the Oilers and the Senators
Key Oilers Takeaway
The Oilers’ firepower is real. When Edmonton needs a push, few teams can match their offensive ceiling. Draisaitl was unstoppable. Bouchard extended his point streak. McDavid keeps producing history-level numbers.
But here’s the caution flag: the Oilers have now allowed four or more goals in nine of their last 11 games. That’s not sustainable. As Draisaitl himself admitted, constantly chasing games into the third period is not a playoff recipe. The comeback win is encouraging — the defensive trend is not.
Key Senators Takeaway
Ottawa played well enough to win. They generated timely offence, scored two goals by Drake Batherson, and extended their point streak to four games. At five-on-five, they limited damage.
But special teams let them down. Two power-play goals against and a late 6-on-5 marker erased what had been a strong road effort. Against elite offensive teams like Edmonton, that margin disappears quickly.
What’s Next for the Oilers?
This game has to be a springboard. The Oilers are too talented to hover around inconsistency, but the defensive lapses can’t continue. They need cleaner starts and more structured second periods so the third doesn’t become a nightly rescue mission.
The good news? When the game tightened, their stars took over. The urgency was there. The push was real.
Now comes the harder part — stacking wins without needing heroics every time.