EDMONTON — Connor McDavid may have earned his 100th career NHL point, but his 102nd would matter more.
McDavid scored in overtime and added two assists as the Edmonton Oilers won their fourth game in a row with a 4-3 decision over the Florida Panthers on Wednesday.
McDavid got a breakaway late in overtime and got the puck away with 2.6 seconds left. Florida goalie James Reimer made the glove save, but the puck was ruled to be across the line after a video review.
“I thought it went in, just because he was already in his net, basically,” McDavid said. “It was definitely nice to be beat the clock for once. I’ve had two goals kind of called back due to the clock. It was definitely good to be on the right side.”
Zack Kassian, Mark Letestu and Jordan Eberle also scored for the Oilers (25-15-7), who are in the midst of their longest winning streak since December 2015.
Eberle snapped an 18-game scoring drought with his ninth of the season late in the third.
“The frustrating thing is that I have had so many chances and just haven’t been able to finish,” he said. “It was nice to be able to contribute in that fashion, at a time when we needed the goal to get a chance at the two points.”
Vincent Trocheck, Michael Sgarbossa and Greg McKegg responded for the Panthers (20-18-9), who have lost two straight.
“We came into an extremely tough building with a lot of elite players and our guys played their hearts out,” said Panthers head coach Tom Rowe. “We obviously have four major guys out of our lineup and for us to come here and do what we did and get a point and have a chance to win the game right to the end says an awful lot about our team.”
Nick Bjugstad, Jonathan Huberdeau, Aleksander Barkov and Alex Petrovic are all out with injuries.
Edmonton started the scoring six minutes in off a steal as McDavid fed Kassian on a two-on-one, and he beat Reimer. McDavid’s hit the century mark in points in just his 92nd game.
McDavid got his 101st point with seven minutes to play in the opening frame, making a perfect feed on the power play to bank the puck in off the skate of Letestu.
Florida got one back with three minutes to play in the first, as Trocheck picked the top corner on Oilers goalie Cam Talbot for his team-leading 17th goal of the season.
Sgarbossa swatted in a rebound for the Panthers in front of Edmonton’s net for his first NHL goal to make it 2-2 with 1:25 remaining in the second period.
Florida took the lead with five minutes remaining as a giveaway allowed Jaromir Jagr to gain the zone and his shot was tipped in by McKegg.
However, Eberle beat Reimer with a shot to the glove side on a two-on-one opportunity just a couple minutes later to make it 3-3, amid an epic celebration.
“We know we didn’t play our best game and none of us are really happy with that game, but it is two points,” said Oilers defenceman Oscar Klefbom.
Both teams return to action on Friday, with the Panthers making a visit to Vancouver and the Oilers closing out a six-game homestand against Nashville.
Notes: It was the first of two meetings between the Oilers and Panthers this season the next meeting coming on Feb. 22 in Florida… Edmonton came into the game with wins in 11 of their last 14 games against the Panthers… McDavid is tops in the NHL with 17 multi-point games this season… Panthers captain Derek MacKenzie played in his 500th NHL game.
