Oilers close in on playoff spot with 4-3 victory over the Blues
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Connor Brown scored twice, Connor McDavid had three assists in his return to the lineup and the injury-riddled Edmonton Oilers moved within a hair of wrapping up a playoff spot, beating the St. Louis Blues 4-3 on Wednesday night.
The Oilers would have clinched a postseason berth if the Calgary Flames lost in regulation rather than overtime in Anaheim.
Vasily Podkolzin and Viktor Arvidsson also scored to help the Oilers snap a two-game losing streak. Calvin Pickard made 23 saves.
Edmonton got its superstar captain back, but was missing eight other regular players, including NHL goals leader Leon Draisaitl, forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, top-pairing defenseman Mattias Ekholm and starting goalie Stuart Skinner.
Pavel Buchnevich had a goal and two assists, while Ryan Suter and Jordan Kyrou also scored for the Blues. They have lost two straight after winning 12 in a row. St. Louis is on the cusp of securing a playoff berth of its own.
Blues: Forward Robert Thomas had two assists to extend his points streak to 10 games (four goals, 18 assists).
Oilers: Arvidsson is starting to heat up at the right time. After scoring just 10 goals in his first 57 games as an Oilers this season, he has four goals in his last six games.
Shortly after Darnell Nurse made a diving stick check to hamper Nathan Walker on a breakaway, McDavid took the puck all the way behind the Blues’ net and sent a backhand pass out front to Brown, who scored his second of the game and 11th of the season with 21 seconds left.
McDavid became the seventh player in NHL history with at least five consecutive 65-assist seasons, joining Wayne Gretzky (13), Bobby Orr (6), Guy Lafleur (6), Peter Stastny (6), Phil Esposito (5) and Adam Oates (5).
The Blues are at Seattle on Saturday night, then close the regular season at home against Utah on Tuesday night. The Oilers host San Jose on Friday night.
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