NHL: Boston Bruins at Edmonton Oilers - Source: Imagn

3 most impressive Edmonton Oilers players from 3-2 OT win over Boston Bruins feat. Zach Hyman

Modified Dec 20, 2024 14:37 GMT

The Edmonton Oilers entered Thursday night's game at Rogers Place against the visiting Boston Bruins hoping to shake off the bad feelings of Tuesday's 6-5 loss to the Florida Panthers, who had defeated them earlier this spring in the Stanley Cup Final. Meanwhile, the Bruins were coming off a 4-3 overtime win over Edmonton's provincial rival, the Calgary Flames.

Thursday night was an ominous beginning for the Oilers, who fell behind by a pair of goals after Elias Lindholm scored for the second straight game, followed by Mark Kastelic increasing the lead to 2-0.

Edmonton's fortunes began to improve in the second period, as Zach Hyamn remained red hot by notching his 11th goal of the season to cut Boston's lead in half.

The Oilers began heavily pressing the Bruins and eventually broke through late in the third period, thanks to captain Connor McDavid's game-tying marker, his 15th of the season.

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In overtime, the Oilers took advantage of a Boston defensive miscue. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins found the wide-open Mattias Ekholm in the slot, and he made no mistake by one-timing the puck past goaltender Jeremy Swayman to secure the extra point.

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Swayman finished with 23 saves, while Stuart Skinner made 24.

3 impressive Oilers players from their 3-2 OT win over Bruins

#1. Zach Hyman

Coming off a career-high 54 goals in 2023-24, Hyman did not begin the 2024-25 season on pace to come anywhere close to reaching that mark for a second straight season. He also missed five consecutive games with an injury.

However, he's turned up the heat in recent weeks and looks more and more like the player who gave opposition goaltenders sunburn on the back of their necks thanks to constantly turning on the red goal light.

His goal was his 11th of the season and his eighth in December alone. Hyman is returning to form, and that's bad news for Edmonton's opponents.

#2. Stuart Skinner

Skinner was able to bounce back from a subpar performance against the Panthers on Tuesday in which he allowed all six goals as part of the 6-5 loss.

It once again raised questions about the state of Edmonton's goaltending and whether or not it could go on a second deep postseason run.

However, at least for a night, Skinner played well enough for the Oilers to secure the victory and kept his team in the game despite allowing a pair of early goals. While it wasn't a perfect performance, the win will help to boost Skinner's confidence as the team prepares for its next game against the San Jose Sharks.

#3. Connor McDavid

There aren't many more superlatives that can be used to describe the Oilers' captain, who not only scored the game-tying goal but also finished with a +2 rating.

In vintage McDavid form, he drove the net and shoved the puck past Swayman late in the third period, assuring Edmonton of at least one point in the standings and giving it a chance to go for the extra point in overtime.