Evan Bouchard scored in overtime to lift the Edmonton Oilers to a huge 4-3 win over the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena on Thursday (March 26).
The Oilers also got one goal apiece from Zach Hyman, Connor McDavid and Matt Savoie. Mark Stone tallied twice while Ivan Barbashev added a goal for Vegas.
Edmonton netminder Connor Ingram made 26 saves, one more than his Golden Knights counterpart Aiden Hill.
With the victory, the Oilers (36-28-9) move two points ahead of Vegas (32-26-15) for second place in the Pacific Division. Edmonton remains five points behind the division-leading Anaheim Ducks (41-27-4), who defeated the Calgary Flames 3-2 in overtime on Thursday.
Oilers Show Greater Resolve
Edmonton led on three different occasions during regulation, and each time it gave up the tying goal. The score was 1-0, then 1-1; 2-1, then 2-2, and finally 3-2, then 3-3.
One could be critical of Edmonton’s inability to protect the lead, but that would be a disservice to the Golden Knights, who fought back time and again. If anything, the Oilers deserve credit for showing a greater degree of resolve, answering each Vegas’ tally with a goal of their own.
Too often this season, the Oilers have given up a momentum-killing goal right after scoring. On Thursday, it was the opposite: McDavid restored Edmonton’s lead at 2-1 only 2:18 after Stone had scored to tie the game early in the second period; later in the middle frame, Hyman put Edmonton ahead 3-2 by scoring just 1:51 after Stone’s second goal of the game had tied things up.
Oilers’ PK Saves the Day
The Oilers looked dead in the water when Hyman was assessed a two-minute minor for holding Stone 1:02 into sudden death, giving Vegas a four-on-three power play.
For almost the entirety of the next two minutes, Vegas held possession in Edmonton’s zone, not allowing the Oilers trio of Connor Murphy, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Darnell Nurse to get off the ice. Vegas attempted six shots during the man advantage, two of which went wide and four that were stopped by Ingram.
Finally, just before Hyman’s penalty expired, Golden Knights forward Mitch Marner fanned on a pass, leading to a two-on-one break for Nugent-Hopkins and Nurse. Hill stopped Nurse’s shot, but on the ensuing faceoff, McDavid won the draw back to Bouchard who stepped into the slot and ripped a shot past the Vegas netminder.
It was the seventh time in his career that Bouchard had scored in sudden death — tying Hall-of-Famer Jari Kurri for third most overtime goals in franchise history – but his heroics wouldn’t have been possible without the incredible penalty-killing efforts of Murphy, Nugent-Hopkins, Nurse, and, of course, Ingram.
More Milestones for Oilers
Bouchard’s goal was also his 20th of 2025-26, as the 26-year-old became only the fourth different defenceman in Oilers history with at least 20 goals in a single season.
Related: 3 Takeaways From Oilers’ 5-2 Win Over Mammoth
Meanwhile, McDavid recorded his 800th career assist when he set up Savoie’s goal at 11:52 of the opening frame. Having played only 785 career games, the Oilers captain is the third fastest player to reach 800 assists in NHL history, behind only Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux.
It’s been a week of milestones for the Oilers captain, who scored his 400th goal and collected his 1,200th career point in Edmonton’s 5-2 victory over the Utah Mammoth on Tuesday (March 24).
Oilers’ Biggest Win of Season
Given the Pacific Division standings are so tight, this was unquestionably Edmonton’s biggest win of 2025-26. The Oilers treated it like a massive game, too, which has to be encouraging for Edmonton fans that have watched this team meander through its schedule for the last five months.
But, as is usually the case at this stage of the season, the next game is the biggest, and that couldn’t be truer for the Oilers, who now return home to host the Ducks on Saturday (March 28).
A regulation loss will leave Edmonton seven points behind the Ducks, and the Oilers will have only six games left while Anaheim will still have seven games remaining on its schedule. But if the Oilers can defeat Anaheim in regulation, they will be just three points back, giving themselves a chance to finish atop their division for the first time since 1987.
