Connor McDavid scores as Edmonton defeats Utah Hockey Club in OT

SALT LAKE CITY – Utah Hockey Club head coach Andre Tourigny stopped mid-sentence.

“I thought we were disciplined,” he said. “I thought we – whatever, I don’t want to get involved in things we can’t control. Disappointing.”

Edmonton overcame an early 2-0 deficit to beat Utah 4-3 in overtime at the Delta Center on Friday.

Edmonton’s Ryan Nugent-Hopkins stole the puck from Utah’s Matias Maccelli, skated in on a breakaway and beat Utah goaltender Karel Vejmelka to win the game for the Oilers.

But Edmonton can thank their power play for making it to overtime.

The Oilers scored three goals in the second period, two of them on man advantage.

First, Leon Draisaitl equalized with a power play goal to make it 2-2 at 14:01. He was the beneficiary of an unfortunate play for Utah when Connor McDavid’s central pass deflected to him by Ian Cole, setting him up for a shot into the open net.

“There is no defense against a broken game,” Tourigny said. “If you look at their first power-play goal, it hit Coles’ skate and went straight to Draisaitl’s tape. How do you defend that?”

It was one of the things Utah couldn’t control after putting itself in a good position for back-to-back wins since mid-October. The club put in a strong performance in the first third, scoring two goals and creating several more chances.

Early in the first period, Kevin Stenlund knocked the puck away from McDavid and started a two-on-one rush, which he capped off with a pass up the middle to Alex Kerfoot, who scored his fourth goal of the season.

Logan Cooley extended the lead to 2-0 at 17:15 of the first half when he fired a rebound from the right in front of the net after Juuso Valimaki’s shot from the point slipped into the goal crease.

It was a strong, if not dominant, first period.

Vejmelka made some exceptional close-range saves and Utah outscored Edmonton 13-5 in the first frame. One important stat: Utah didn’t commit a penalty. In the second it couldn’t say the same.

Draisaitl’s power play tally came after Utah defenseman Olli Määttä was called for an interference penalty that took offense to the team, and the penalty ultimately led to the equalizer (a decision that hurt even more than Jack did a little later in the game McBain was obviously brought down) but no penalty was imposed).

McDavid scored the second power play goal at 16:22 of the second minute to give the Oilers a 3-2 lead. The superstar striker prevailed and beat Vejmelka.

While there was some frustration with few or no calls, a concerning trend continued for Utah in the second period. This is when clues often fall by the wayside in Utah.

“I don’t know it. It’s just the way the game goes, I guess,” Stenlund said. “We will work on it and get better.”

While Stenlund said he thought the team played well overall, they “fell apart on the PK in the second game.”

Still, Utah had a chance to win in the end. Lawson Crouse ended a months-long losing streak when he scored early in the third period to end the game. It was the assistant captain’s first goal (and point) since October 24.

Crouse’s line was matched with McDavid’s for defensive purposes, and they kept the Oilers’ dangerous line under control – as long as it was five-on-five. Utah won 3-1 at full strength on Friday.

“Five on five, they have taken him out and they will be the big target,” Tourigny said. “Get us a point, so there’s a lot of positives.”