By Canadian Press

Leon Draisaitl has overtime winner as Edmonton Oilers down Boston Bruins 3-2

Oct 18, 2018 | 10:00 PM

EDMONTON — It was a happy homecoming for the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night.

Connor McDavid set up Leon Draisaitl for the overtime winner as the Oilers defeated the Boston Bruins 3-2 in Edmonton’s home opener, becoming the final one of the NHL’s 31 teams to have a home game.

Kailer Yamamoto and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins also scored for the Oilers (3-2-0), who have won three straight.

“It feels pretty weird having played four games and travelling all over the place and just finally playing our home opener,” Nugent-Hopkins said. “This was great for the team. You have to make your home building a tough barn to come into every night and I thought as the game went on we did that.”

Cam Talbot was solid in net, making 27 saves for the win.

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“He held us in the game, it is as simple as that,” Draisaitl said. “We all know what we have in him and are very proud to have him back there. He does this so many times for us. It was nice to bail him out at the end.”

David Krejci and David Pastrnak responded for the Bruins (4-2-1) who have dropped two in a row.

“There was definitely some really good opportunities, it didn’t happen for us, but I thought we persevered,” said Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy. “We got behind in the third, but to score a goal to tie the game, I thought was a credit to our guys. Obviously we didn’t get the win, but it’s certainly a positive.”

Boston had the best chances in the scoreless opening frame as Krejci hit a crossbar in the early running before a flurry on shots in the dying seconds on Oilers goalie Cam Talbot, with defender Darnell Nurse batting a puck out of the air that was heading into the net. The Bruins outshot Edmonton 12-5 in the first.

The first goal didn’t come until past the midmark when the Bruins got on the board following an Edmonton giveaway, with Krejci left alone at the side of the net to record his first goal of the season.

Edmonton tied the game back up a couple minutes later when Yamamoto beat Boston goalie Jaroslav Halak up high for his first career NHL goal.

“It feels even better than I thought it would,” said Yamamoto. “Words can’t even describe it. It was an unbelievable feeling.”

The Oilers took the lead with a power-play goal seven-and-a-half minutes into the third period when a McDavid shot went off the boards to Nugent-Hopkins who sent home a shot into a yawning cage. It was Nugent-Hopkins’s seventh point in the last three games.

Boston knotted it back up four minutes later when Brad Marchand fed it in front to Pastrnak, who scored his eighth, eventually sending the game to overtime.

Both teams return to action on Saturday, as the Bruins play the third game of a four-game Canadian road trip in Vancouver, while the Oilers play host to the Nashville Predators.

Notes: The Oilers played their first four games on the road, including starting the season in Sweden. It is the latest Edmonton has ever had its home opener in a non-lockout season… Boston defenceman Zdeno Chara played his 900th regular season game with the Bruins. The 41-year-old has played in 1,429 games over 21 NHL seasons… Oilers defenceman Matt Benning and forward Ty Rattie both left the game in the second period and did not return.

Shane Jones, The Canadian Press

Note to readers: This is a corrected version of an earlier story. It fixes the spelling of Leon Draisaitl