Oilers gets franchise-best 10th victory in a row

MONTREAL — Evan Bouchard scored a power-play goal 2:01 into overtime, and the Edmonton Oilers beat the Montreal Canadiens 2-1 on Saturday night for a franchise-record 10th consecutive victory.

Leon Draisaitl also scored for Edmonton (23-15-1), and Stuart Skinner made 23 saves. Connor McDavid picked up an assist on Bouchard’s 10th goal of the season.

“We just found ways to win games. you don’t put a streak together by just relying on one line,” Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said.

“When you’re winning games, you have confidence, and you don’t have to doubt yourself or feel that you have to change your game. We just have to stick with it, and we’ll win hockey games.”

Montreal (17-19-6) lost for the seventh time in nine games. Cole Caufield scored for the Canadiens, and Sam Montembeault made 39 stops.

“I’m feeling good right now and every practice has been going well,” Montembeault said. “The morning skate today was a really good one and that helps you get to the game knowing you’re ready.

“After that, I just have to stay focused, and the rest of the work comes on its own.”

Caufield put Montreal in front 1:43 into the first period with his 12th goal. Nick Suzuki spotted Caufield with a cross-seam pass, setting up a wide-open net and ending a five-game goal drought on the man advantage.

“I think we played a very smart game,” Canadiens coach Martin St Louis said. “They’re a tough team to handle with their speed and their offensive game and I think we did that pretty well.

“The guys knew that it was going to be a big undertaking on the defensive side of the game, and we did just that. We didn’t shoot ourselves in the foot and made sure our collective game was good.”

Bouchard had the Oilers’ first significant chance of the game, sending a point shot off a post three minutes into the second period.

Draisaitl tied it at 1 with his 20th of the season 38 seconds into the third. He smacked a rebound past Montembeault.

“Their goalie played great and made a lot of saves on some of our top guys, but we stuck with it, and we knew that we would find one or two,” Draisaitl said.

“It’s very mature hockey. Lots of teams are playing us hard every night and lots of credit to the group for battling through it and eventually getting wins.”