VANCOUVER — Alex Chiasson’s shootout goal lifted the Edmonton Oilers to a 3-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday night.
The shootout went into the fifth round before Chiasson scored.
Edmonton Oilers right wing Alex Chiasson sends the game-winning shootout goal past Vancouver Canucks goaltender Jacob Markstrom. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward)
Jujhar Khaira and Connor McDavid put up the Oilers’ goals in regulation.
Edmonton (23-21-3) had not strung together two wins in a row since early December.
Brandon Sutter and Markus Granlund scored for Vancouver (21-21-6).
Jacob Markstrom had 28 saves for the Canucks and Oilers goalie Mikko Koskinen stopped 20-of-22 shots.
Edmonton opened the scoring 7:35 into the game with a short-handed goal.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins picked off the puck in his own end and sliced it to Khaira in the neutral zone.
The native of Surrey, B.C., took a spinning wrist shot from the hash marks and beat Markstrom on the far side.
Sutter responded for the Canucks 78 seconds later, firing a shot off from the top of the face-off circle for a power-play goal.
A fight between Vancouver’s Antoine Roussel and Edmonton’s Matt Benning set the stage for the third goal of the night.
The Canucks left-winger was handed a double-minor for the tussle, while Benning was assessed a two-minute penalty, giving the Oilers their second power play of the night.
McDavid capitalized on the advantage with 57 seconds left in the period, streaking into the Vancouver zone alone and putting a laser of a shot around defenceman Chris Tanev and past Markstrom.
The goal extended the Oilers captain’s point streak to six games. He has six goals and three assists across that stretch.
Vancouver tied things up again midway through the second frame.
Tim Schaller dug the puck out behind the Edmonton net and chipped it to Granlund in the slot. The centre got off a quick one-timer for his eighth goal of the year.
Ben Hutton put up another power-play goal for the Canucks late in the second period, but Edmonton challenged the play, saying Vancouver’s Jake Virtanen was offside. After video review, the officials agreed and the goal was called back.
Both teams pushed to end things in the third period but couldn’t bury the puck.
Virtanen nearly sealed the game on a breakaway with 20 seconds to go, but couldn’t get past Koskinen.
Darnell Nurse swiped the puck from Edmonton’s crease half-way through overtime to keep the Oilers in the game. The play resulted in an Oilers rush where Leon Draisaitl put a shot into Markstrom’s logo.
Next up, the Canucks host the Buffalo Sabres on Friday.
The Oilers will kick off a three-game homestand on Saturday when they host the Calgary Flames.
Gemma Karstens-Smith, The Canadian Press
