The Edmonton Oilers got a much-needed win on Thursday (March 6), defeating the Montreal Canadiens 3-2 in overtime at Rogers Place.
Evan Bouchard scored with just seven seconds remaining in sudden death to lift the home team to victory. Edmonton also got goals from Leon Draisaitl and Corey Perry, while Cole Caufield and Joel Armia tallied for Montreal.
Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner stopped 25 of 27 shots to pick up his first win in more than a month. Sam Montembeault made 29 saves between the pipes for Montreal.
Edmonton never trailed, and the score was tied at 1-1 after the first period and 2-2 going into the second intermission. It was one of the better performances in quite a while by the Oilers, who came into the game with a record of 1-6-0 in their last seven games and hadn’t won at home since Jan. 27.
Redemption for Bouchard and Skinner
While many Oilers have underperformed during the team’s recent slump, arguably none have struggled more – or at least more conspicuously – than Bouchard and Skinner.
Skinner took the ice Thursday with an .863 save percentage and 4.55 goals-against average over his past five appearances. Never mind taking away goals from the opposition, Skinner wasn’t even making the saves that he should.
On Thursday, the 26-year-old netminder did both. Skinner was particularly good in overtime, making four saves before the Oilers even got a shot on Montembeault during three-on-three.
Over Edmonton’s prior seven contests, Bouchard had a cumulative rating of minus-9 and hadn’t registered a plus/minus above zero in any of those games. Plus/minus doesn’t always tell a complete or even accurate story, but in the case of Bouchard, he was full value for his dreadful rating.
The defenceman was plagued by many of the same issues on Thursday. He got caught watching on Armia’s goal in the second period and had a couple turnovers early in overtime. But then he showed why the Oilers put up with his defensive lapses, beating Montembeault with a fantastic wrist shot for the winning goal.
Edmonton Debut for Dineen and Jones
Thursday marked the first game with the Oilers for forward Max Jones and blueliner Cam Dineen, and both earned praise from head coach Kris Knoblauch, who spoke glowingly of the pair during his post-game media availability.
"We've been pushing the guys to work harder & win the battles, skate more, simplify their game. I think three of four games we've done that."
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) March 7, 2025
Coach Knoblauch on the #Oilers execution level of late.@Enterprise | #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/E8PE5tP3VU
Jones, who was just traded from the Boston Bruins to Edmonton on Tuesday (March 4), made a great pass to set up Perry’s goal midway through the first period, and finished the game with two shots, three hits and a takeaway in 10:26 of ice time, all at even strength. The 27-year-old showed an ability to affect the game in a number of ways, from creating offence to back-checking and moving the puck.
Since being acquired by Edmonton as part of a trade with the Arizona Coyotes more than two years ago, Dineen had been stuck in the American Hockey League (AHL) with the Bakersfield Condors. On Wednesday (March 5), the 27-year-old defenceman was finally recalled from Bakersfield, on an emergency basis, as the Oilers needed someone to fill in with lineup regulars Mattias Ekholm and Jonh Klingberg sidelined.
Playing his first NHL regular season game since April 29, 2022, Dineen ended up logging the fourth most minutes among Oilers blueliners, 14:53. He recorded four shots on goal, tied for the team lead with eight shot attempts, and made such an impression that he even got a shift during overtime, which is almost unheard of for any Oilers’ blueliner not named Bouchard, Ekholm, or Darnell Nurse.
Draisaitl and Perry Continue to Deliver
At a time when so many of their teammates are stuck in a rut, Draisaitl and Perry have been the ones producing, ranking first and second, respectively, on the Oilers for goals scored over the last eight weeks. So it was no surprise that it was once again those two leading the way on Thursday.
Perry continues his incredible late-career resurgence. The 39-year-old now has 14 goals this season, including eight since Jan. 11, and ranks third on the Oilers with a rating of plus-12. With 20 games remaining on Edmonton’s schedule, there’s a chance Perry could score 20 goals in a season for the first time since 2015-16, when he was age 30.
Draisaitl, meanwhile, continues to run away with the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy race. The superstar centre fired an absolute laser past Montembeault on the power-play during the second period, giving him 46 goals this season, 11 more than anyone else in the entire NHL. It was also his 393rd career goal with the Oilers, moving him ahead of Hall of Famer Mark Messier for fourth place in franchise history.
The Oilers will now look to carry this momentum into their next game, at home against the Dallas Stars on Saturday (March 8), in a rematch of the 2024 Western Conference Final series.
