The Carolina Hurricanes and Edmonton Oilers enter the holidays as the odds-on favourites to win the Stanley Cup. The Oilers were suffering from a serious case of deja vu. The Oilers were in a familiar situation in the waning minutes of Friday's game against Anaheim: trying to keep the game tied after blowing a 2-0 lead. They weren't able to do that on Sunday, but they managed to flip the script last night. The deciding goal came, of course, off the stick of Leon Draisaitl, who proved yet again why he's the Oilers' MVP this season by scoring a much-needed game-winning goal with less than two minutes left in the third period. Final score: 3-2 Oilers. "I take pride in stepping up when it's needed most," Draisaitl said after the game, after making numerous comments criticizing his own game. "Obviously, I'll take it." To blow a lead, you first need to build a lead. The Oilers were cruising through the first half of the game, up 2-0 thanks to a first-period powerplay marker from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and an insurance goal from Darnell Nurse. But then the game started to slip from their grasp. First, Anaheim's Brett Leason turned an Evan Bouchard turnover into a breakaway goal late in the second to cut the Oilers' lead in half. The Ducks tied it up on the powerplay early in the third, when Jackson LaCombe's point shot found its way through a screen and past Stuart Skinner. Just like that, the Oilers had blown two-goal leads to Anaheim twice in six days. The Oilers' inability to score wasn't for a lack of trying. They spent long stretches of the game in Anaheim's zone but missed the net on numerous chances. They had one goal swiftly taken away when Connor McDavid poked the puck past Ducks goalie Lukas Dostal after a quick whistle. But, as he has all season, Leon Draisaitl came to the rescue, potting his league-leading 28th goal of the season to give Edmonton a 3-2 lead with just 1:35 remaining. The Oilers held on to that lead, barely avoiding a disastrous second loss to Anaheim and snapping the Ducks' winning streak at three. PLAY OF THE GAME The game-winning goal was a pretty one, too. How many players in the league can not only corral that wayward pass, but then find that inside post with a release like that? Against one of the best goalies in the league this season? To win the game with less than two minutes left? Sounds like an MVP to me. [https://thehockeynews.com/latest-news/leon-draisaitl-makes-his-case-as-the-nhls-mvp] Related: Oilers' First-Rounder Can't Stop Scoring Points [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/edmonton-oilers/latest-news/oilers-first-rounder-cant-stop-scoring-points] Related: Oilers Debut Surprising New Lineup At Practice [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/edmonton-oilers/latest-news/oilers-debut-surprising-new-lineup-at-practice] Related: Oilers Need To Get More From Ryan Nugent-Hopkins [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/edmonton-oilers/latest-news/oilers-need-to-get-more-from-ryan-nugent-hopkins] Related: Oilers Forward Surging With Surprising Heater [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/edmonton-oilers/latest-news/oilers-forward-surging-with-surprising-heater]
