– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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DALLAS — Already with a goal in the game, Edmonton Oilers defenseman Evan Bouchard found himself with the puck again and, with one of his opponents skating right in the goalkeeper’s line of sight, he decided to take a hopeful shot at the net to see what would happen.
What happened was an Oilers’ overtime game-winner, as Bouchard’s second goal of the game 30 seconds into overtime gave Edmonton a 4-3 victory over the Dallas Stars in a matinee game inside American Airlines Center. The goal was the second of the game for Bouchard, who scored Edmonton’s first goal of the game amidst a wild six-goal second period that saw the goals split evenly.
Corey Perry and Derek Ryan also scored for the Oilers, who have alternated wins and losses in their last six games after their 16-game winning streak was snapped by the Vegas Golden Knights on February 6.
The Oilers went on the power play in the overtime just 23 seconds into the session after a Wyatt Johnston hooking penalty on Leon Draisaitl, and the Oilers took advantage of the extra man opportunity right from the face-off, as Draisaitl played the puck back to Bouchard right before the latter fired at the net and beat a screened Jake Oettinger.
“He’s been playing really well. Tonight was probably the best I have seen him play over the last couple of weeks, and he is very dangerous when he has the puck,” Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said about Bouchard. “We have talked about his ability to fire the puck and get it in with the big bombs and those big heavy shots, but a lot of his goals are just little sifters. That last one where he made a little move walking the line and freezes the forward, and then rips a nice little wrist shot inside the post. Also, I believe it was [Ryan Nugent-Hopkins] that was right in front of the goalie creating a really good screen, but he is always able to find and get shots through like that.”
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Saturday afternoon’s contest, with photos taken by Dallas-area photographer Ross James. After clicking on the first photo to enlarge the picture, make sure to press the left and right arrow buttons to scroll through the rest of the pictures. There are 25 pictures in total.
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