Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl drove Edmonton’s comeback engine Thursday, each posting two goals and three assists as the Oilers outlasted the Carolina Hurricanes 6-5 in a shootout at Rogers Place. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, back for his first game of the season, supplied the deciding shootout goal after the Oilers erased a late one-goal deficit.
Key takeaways
- Edmonton improved to 8-1-1, extending its winning streak to three games and taking eight of its last nine.
- Nugent-Hopkins had a goal and an assist in regulation, then beat Brandon Bussi for the lone shootout goal.
- McDavid’s 10-game season-opening point streak reached 31 points, including eight goals and 23 assists.
- Carolina fell to 8-2-2 and carries a 2-1-1 mark into the final stop of its five-game trip, Saturday at St. Louis.
- Mattias Ekholm left after being checked into the boards early in the third period and hitting his head on the ice.
Oilers find another answer in a wild third period
The game turned into a special-teams shootout early. Draisaitl opened the scoring at 8:07 of the first, tipping Evan Bouchard’s point shot after winning an offensive-zone draw that led to McDavid moving the puck back to the blue line.
Carolina answered six seconds into a power play at 10:30. Jackson Blake collected the rebound from Shayne Gostisbehere’s shot and put it past a down-and-out Devon Levi.
The Hurricanes built a 4-2 advantage in the second period. Sebastian Aho beat Ekholm to a loose puck 30 seconds in and slid a backhand between Levi’s pads on a breakaway. Nugent-Hopkins answered on Edmonton’s power play at 4:20, taking McDavid’s cross-ice feed and beating Bussi with a glove-side wrist shot.
Seth Jarvis restored Carolina’s lead at 12:59, spinning around Bouchard in the right circle before finishing at the post. Logan Stankoven made it 4-2 at 17:53, converting a one-timer after Nikolaj Ehlers stole the puck from Jake Walman below Edmonton’s goal line and fed the play with a backhand pass.
Edmonton came out flying in the third. McDavid ripped a Draisaitl pass past Bussi only 26 seconds after the opening face-off, and Draisaitl tied the game on another Oilers power play at 2:51, hammering Nugent-Hopkins’ feed from close range.
Juuso Valimaki put Carolina back in front with 2:40 left in regulation, scoring from the high slot for his first goal since Dec. 10, 2024, when he was with the Utah Mammoth, then known as the Utah Hockey Club.
Zach Hyman appeared to draw Edmonton even at the right post with 1:36 remaining, but the goal was disallowed for a high stick. The Oilers did not wait long for another break. Eight seconds later, McDavid’s saucer pass toward Draisaitl redirected off Jesperi Kotkaniemi’s skate and slipped through Bussi to make it 5-5.
Nugent-Hopkins, who had missed Edmonton’s first nine games with a lower-body injury suffered in practice on Sept. 28, solved Bussi in the third round of the shootout. He said going later in the order allowed him to study the goalie, while also accounting for Bussi’s unusual right-catching setup.
Draisaitl called it a game Edmonton had to find a way to win, even if it became far too open for either bench’s comfort.
Milestones, injuries and road-trip lessons
McDavid’s five-point night was the 17th of his NHL career, moving him past Marcel Dionne, Steve Yzerman and Jari Kurri into sole possession of fourth place in League history. It was also the fourth time McDavid and Draisaitl have each recorded five points in the same game.
Draisaitl has now scored seven goals during a five-game goal streak. Levi finished with 22 saves for Edmonton, while Bussi stopped 16 shots for Carolina.
Jarvis was also playing his first game of the season after offseason surgery to repair a torn labrum and rotator cuff in his right shoulder. He said Carolina did many things well but paid for taking too many penalties against Edmonton’s power play, adding that a few mental mistakes proved costly.
Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour believed his club had played well aside from its five penalties and was especially frustrated by Edmonton’s final tying goal, calling it a bounce that should not have gone in.
Valimaki said the Hurricanes surrendered momentum immediately in the third period, allowing Edmonton to build confidence and keep pressing. Edmonton coach Mike Babcock viewed the comeback as a valuable test, saying his group needs to become more resilient when games start to tilt against it.
Ekholm’s status will be watched after William Carrier’s check sent him into the boards in the opening minute of the third. Babcock said the defenseman’s head struck the ice hard and suggested another player may need to step into the lineup while Ekholm recovers.
