McDavid’s Silky Shootout Goal Lifts Oilers Over Blues

ST. LOUIS — Connor McDavid scored in the shootout after Oscar Klefbom tied it late in the third period, and the Edmonton Oilers beat the St. Louis Blues 3-2 on Wednesday night.

Klefbom scored with 55.2 seconds remaining to tie the game at 2, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and McDavid scored in the shootout. Nugent-Hopkins also scored in the second period, and Edmonton won for the fourth time in five games.

Cam Talbot made 28 saves, plus two more in the shootout to win for the first time in seven tries dating to Oct. 28.

Cam Talbot Oilers
Cam Talbot, Edmonton Oilers, Oct. 21, 2017 (Amy Irvin / The Hockey Writers)

Ivan Barbashev and Brayden Schenn scored for the Blues, who lost for the fourth time in their last five games. Jake Allen made 34 saves.

Klefbom scored on a slap shot from just inside the blue line with Talbot pulled for an extra skater. Klefbom has a point in five straight games.

Barbashev gave the Blues a 1-0 lead at 6:05 of the first, burying Oskar Sundqvist’s feed from behind the net short-side. Schenn made it 2-0 with 6:28 left, banking the puck off the far post at a severe angle. Schenn has 13 points in 13 career games against Edmonton.

Nugent-Hopkins got Edmonton on the board at 4:04 of the second. After Darnell Nurse’s centring pass went off of Blues centre Robert Thomas’ skate, Nugent-Hopkins chipped it in from in between Thomas’ legs.

FACES IN THE CROWD

Wayne Gretzky and Curtis Joseph were in attendance. Gretzky played for the Oilers from 1979-1987 and finished the 1995-96 season with the Blues. Joseph, who played for the Blues from 1989-1995, was promoting his autobiography, “Cujo.”

NOTES: Oilers C Leon Draisaitl had his four-game point streak snapped. … Blues C Ryan O’Reilly has won at least 15 faceoffs in a game 10 times this season. … Hitchcock coached the Blues from 2011-2017 and amassed a 248-124-41 record. … The Oilers scratched D Chris Wideman, D Jason Garrison and C Drake Caggiula. … The Blues scratched LW Sammy Blais, LW Alexander Steen and D Jordan Schmaltz.

UP NEXT

Edmonton: Host Minnesota on Friday.

St. Louis: Play at Winnipeg on Friday.

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Joe Harris, The Associated Press