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Leon Draisaitl scored a power play goal in overtime to give the Edmonton Oilers a 3-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday at Rogers Place.

The Habs came back from being down two goals to push the game into overtime, but with 28 seconds remaining in regulation, Joel Armia was assessed a double-minor for high-sticking, forcing the Habs to spend the extra frame on the penalty kill. They nearly completed the task, but with 15 seconds to go in the infraction, Draisaitl ended it.

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It was a big homecoming for Edmonton native Kaiden Guhle, who scored his fifth goal of the season. Nick Suzuki had the other for his team-leading 27th. Sam Montembeault made 29 saves, including 14 of 15 on the penalty kill.

The game opened with a fight. Michael Pezzetta made his presence felt after being a healthy scratch for two games by dropping the gloves with Sam Carrick.

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Connor McDavid opened scoring off a turnover. He then danced around Guhle and Montembeault before the empty net tap-in. 1-0 Oilers.

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McDavid nearly had another goal, but this time Guhle was able to knock the loose puck out of harm’s way. Edmonton up 1-0 after the first period.

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In the second period, key trade deadline acquisition Adam Henrique scored his first as an Oiler from inside Montembeault’s crease. 2-0 Oilers.

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Montreal wasted no time mounting their third period comeback. At 32 seconds into the period, Suzuki went to the net and good things happened, as Juraj Slafkovsky’s pass went off the captain and in to put the Habs on the board, down 2-1. According to Sportsnet Stats, Suzuki leads the Eastern Conference with 12 even-strength goals since the All-Star break.

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Just over four minutes later, Jake Evans found Guhle streaking down the left side unattended, and the defenceman beat Calvin Pickard cleanly glove side to tie things up 2-2.

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Prior to the Armia penalty, the Habs killed another big penalty with less than three minutes to go. Armia’s high-sticking double minor came about after he got tangled up with Evander Kane, which caused his stick to inadvertently hit Henrique in the face. The power play spilled over into overtime, giving superstars McDavid and Draisaitl over three minutes at 4-on-3. Montembeault stopped the first five shots in overtime, but Draisaitl wasn’t messing around on the sixth.

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It’s unfortunate Armia’s ill-timed infraction resulted in the game-winner, because before that he had a strong game, including on the preceding penalty kill. Ditto Guhle, who was on the ice for the first goal, scored one of his own, and ended up a mixed bag on Hockey Stat Cards’ impact card for the night. It was Montreal’s 39th one-goal game of the season.

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The circumstances of Armia’s penalty was similar to Suzuki’s high-stick against the Bruins on Thursday, and after Slafkovsky’s penalty against Calgary on Saturday seemed to turn the tide, the Liveblog commenters had more to say about the officiating than usual. Guhle, on the other hand, has flown under the radar. And that’s a likely good thing: it means he’s already a set-it-and-forget-it presence on the backend just 108 games into his career.

3. “Too bad that such a great effort gets decided by the refs.” -Tom Xenn

2. “Bit of a cheesy call. The Edmonton player’s stick directs the stick upward to Henrique’s face. Not intentional but what can you do.” -Derek Stevens

1. “The fact we haven’t talked about (Guhle) too much is an indication of how he has played….steady, reliable, dependable. A very good season for him, he is going to be a very good Dman going forward.” -Bob Taylor

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