On a night their captain made history, the Edmonton Oilers extended their win streak to a season-best three games with a 3-2 overtime victory over the Nashville Predators at Rogers Place on Thursday (Nov. 14).
Playing his 659th NHL regular season game, Connor McDavid scored and picked up an assist to surpass 1,000 career points. With his goal early in the second period, the Oilers centre reached 1,000 points in the fourth fewest number of games, behind only Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, and Mike Bossy.
Defenceman Darnell Nurse had the other two goals for Edmonton, including the game-winner at 2:33 of overtime, and assisted on McDavid’s tally. Nurse both tied his single-game high with two goals and equalled his career-best with three points.
Edmonton now has an incredible record of 13-1-1 in its last 15 games against the Predators. With the victory, the Oilers improve to 9-7-1 and move more than one game above .500 for the first time in 2024-25.
But while there was a lot to be happy about for the Oilers, Thursday’s win covers up some ongoing concern for the defending Western Conference champs. Here’s the good and bad takeaways from Edmonton’s defeat of Nashville:
McDavid Gets Point No. 1,000
Rogers Place erupted and McDavid’s teammates spilled off the bench to congratulate him when the Oilers captain got career point No. 1,000 with a goal at 2:44 of the second period, tying the game 1-1.
McDavid doesn’t often show a lot of joy when he scores, but his face lit up following the goal and he continued wearing a huge smile after returning to the bench. His emotion revealed how much the achievement meant to him, and that he was allowing himself to enjoy the moment.
Related: Oilers’ 1,000-Point Club: Gretzky, Kurri and Messier’s Historic Moments
Fittingly, the goal was set up by two of McDavid’s closest friends who have been his teammates since he entered the NHL in 2015, Nurse and Leon Draisaitl.
After gathering up a Nashville turnover, Nurse sprung Edmonton’s dynamic duo on a two-on-one break, and Draisaitl passed to McDavid, who beat Predators netminder Scott Wedgewood with a shot to the near post.
“He could have three guys all over him, I would have still tried to get him,” Draisaitl, who should join the 1,000-point club himself sometime during the 2025-26 season, said during a post-game chat with media. “I think every guy on our team would have done the same thing. He deserves that and that just shows how much we love him and how much we appreciate everything he does for our organization. It’s a great night.”
Nurse Has His Best Offensive Performance
McDavid was selected as all three stars of the game on the Sportsnet broadcast, but on any other occasion, Nurse would have been first star.
The veteran defenceman scored his first goal of the season at 5:50 of the second period, while the arena was still buzzing from McDavid’s goal, to put his team ahead 2-1. Then he ended things midway through 3-on-3 with a blast from the side of the net after a nifty feed from McDavid, who in turn had received the puck from Draisaitl.
THE OILERS GRAB THE EXTRA POINT. 🚨
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) November 15, 2024
Darnell Nurse nets the @SUBWAYCanada OT Winner for Edmonton. pic.twitter.com/ntWbznMlQr
Thursday night marked the 657th time Nurse has suited up in the regular season, and until then, he’d never scored twice while also picking up an assist in the same game.
Not only that, but Nurse became just the third defenceman in franchise history to pick up three points while also scoring an overtime goal in the same game. That rare feat had previously been achieved by current Oilers assistant coach Paul Coffey during the 1984-85 season, and Steve Smith during the 1990-91 season.
With six overtime goals, Nurse now ranks fourth all-time on the Oilers career list, trailing only McDavid, Draisaitl, and Hall-of-Fame forward Jari Kurri.
Oilers Struggling to Close Out Games
Thursday marked the second consecutive game, both at home, that Edmonton has blown a late lead. In their 4-3 defeat of the New York Islanders on Tuesday (Nov. 12), the Oilers led 3-1 with just over six minutes to play before Isles captain Andres Lee scored at 12:54 and 17:20 of the third period to force overtime. Then against Nashville, Edmonton was less than minutes away from victory when Cole Smith put the puck past Oilers netminder Calvin Pickard at 17:12 of the third period to level the scoreboard at 2-2.
This is a troubling trend for the Oilers, who have now either lost or gone to overtime after holding a lead with less than 10 minutes to play in three of the last four games, and four times in the last 11 games. Edmonton has already blown a two-goal lead in the third period twice this season.
In the 3-on-3 overtime format, the Oilers will often prevail on the strength of their sheer individual talent. Nearly half of Edmonton’s wins this season have come in overtime, when the Oilers boast a 4-1 record, compared to just 5-7 in games that end in regulation.
That’s all well and good during the regular season, but superior individual skill is not something that can be relied upon during the Stanley Cup Playoffs when overtime reverts to a 5-on-5 format.
While Edmonton continues to struggle on the power play, going 0-for-4 on Thursday, at least its penalty kill is improving, as the Oilers killed off both of Nashville’s opportunities with the man advantage. After allowing 16 power-play goals in its first 15 contests, Edmonton has now gone two back-to-back games without giving up a goal while playing short-handed.
The Oilers will look to keep that modest streak going, while more importantly extending their win streak, when they are next in action, Saturday (Nov. 16) against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena.
