EDMONTON _ The Edmonton Oilers and Rangers have the same number of points, and yet while the Rangers are well out of the playoff race in the Eastern Conference, the Oilers are making a strong push to get into the postseason in the West. They were helped greatly Monday when Leon Draisaitl's goal 35 seconds into overtime gave them a 3-2 win at Rogers Place.
Playing in the first game of a four-game road trip, the Rangers had tied the game at 2, on Brett Howden's first goal since Nov. 12 _ he'd gone goalless in his last 35 games played _ at 1:33 of the third period. And goaltender Alexandar Georgiev, playing for the first time since the 1-0 loss in Dallas last Tuesday, made any number of great saves to get the game to overtime. Before that happened, though, the Rangers had to kill a tripping penalty to Brady Skjei with 2:57 left in regulation. Edmonton's Ryan Nugent-Hopkins hit the crossbar on the power play, with 2:34 left in regulation.
After watching Henrik Lundqvist play the previous two games, Georgiev started in goal for the Rangers, his first action since he made 31 saves in a 1-0 loss at Dallas last week. It was Georgiev's ninth start in the last 16 games, as the Rangers continue to evaluate his potential as an NHL goaltender.
"There's a lot of moving pieces to that," Rangers coach David Quinn said when asked before the game if Georgiev is earning himself a larger role with the club next season. "But he certainly has solidified himself as an NHL goalie over the last 6-7 weeks. Obviously, his workload has increased the second half of the season, and he's embraced it, he's thrived on it, and he's been a better goalie because of it. He's had a really good second half. He had a pretty good first half, and he's had a really good second half."
He didn't have such a good first period Monday, though, as he surrendered two goals in quick succession as the Rangers fell behind, 2-0. The first was on a power play, by Connor McDavid, who beat him on the glove side with a wrist shot from the right circle at 6:08. Less than two minutes later, at 8:02, Matt Benning made it 2-0 when his shot went in as Georgiev was knocked to the ice and got up screaming to the referees that he was interfered with.
The goal was waved off immediately, but the Oilers challenged the goaltender interference call, and after reviewing the replay, the officials determined that it wasn't the stick of Zack Kassian that had knocked Georgiev to the ice, but rather it was the stick of Freddie Claesson, who was returning to the lineup after sitting out the previous five games. According to replays, it seemed as if Kassian leaped in front of Georgiev, and crashed into Claesson's stick, which then hit Georgiev in the side of the mask and drove him to the ice.
Georgiev would have a much better second period, though, making 14 saves _ several of them from absolutely point blank range _ while Brendan Lemieux scored his second goal as a Ranger to cut the deficit to 2-1 at 11:29 of the period.
Lemieux, who had a Gordie Howe hat trick _ a goal, an assist and a fight _ apparently likes the ice in Edmonton. He scored two goals in the building on New Year's Eve, while playing with the Winnipeg Jets.
"I like playing in Edmonton," he said.
