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SAN JOSE — For at least one game, the move paid off.
Roughly 14 hours after the Edmonton Oilers replaced Todd McLellan with Ken Hitchcock, the team earned the third-winningest coach in NHL history his 824th win by beating the Sharks 4-3 in overtime at SAP Center Tuesday.
Leon Draisaitl scored the winner just 51 seconds into the extra session, batting in a pass from Connor McDavid, who earned three points on the night.
The Oilers fired McLellan, who coached the Sharks for seven years, after the team lost six of seven games by a combined margin of 29-17. The Sharks mutually parted ways with McLellan in April 2015 after the Sharks missed the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time in a decade.
As McLellan took in the game from his couch, Joe Thornton continued his assault on the NHL record books. Thornton tied Mario Lemieux for 11th place on the NHL’s all-time assists list by recording his 1,033rd career helper on Marcus Sorensen’s goal at 10:32 of the second.
Oilers superstar Connor McDavid reached a milestone of his own, scoring his 100th career goal at 8:09 of the first. In doing so, he became the fourth-fastest Oiler to reach 100 goals (230 games), trailing Wayne Gretzky, Glenn Anderson and Jari Kurri.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored the Oilers second goal, tying the game 2-2 at 1:46 of the second by converting a 2 on 1 play on a Sharks power play. Logan Couture scored his first goal in 11 games in the final minute of the second and Drake Caggiula tied it again early in the third.
The Sharks opened the scoring just 45 seconds into the game. Joonas Donskoi scored his fifth goal by lifting the rebound of a Brent Burns into the top shelf with a backhander. Joe Pavelski also earned an assist on the play, giving him 10 points in the Sharks last five game.
With the loss, the Sharks fell to 3-1-1`on their season-long six game homestand. They return to action at SAP Center Friday for a bout with the Vancouver Canucks.
