Edmonton Oilers vs New Jersey Devils Match Player Stats On Dec 31, 2021

Jack Hughes scored with 2:05 left in overtime Friday afternoon for the host New Jersey Devils, who edged the Edmonton Oilers 6-5 in a wild back-and-forth affair in Newark, N.J.

Hughes, who also scored the Devils' first goal 1:38 into the first period, fired a shot that Mike Smith partially squeezed but could not entirely stop as the puck trickled behind him.

Nico Hischier, Dawson Mercer, Janne Kuokkanen and Yegor Sharangovich all scored for the Devils, who held a quartet of one-goal leads in regulation but surrendered the tying and go-ahead goals in a 72-second span in the third period before Sharangovich forced overtime in the final minute of the third.

Goalie Mackenzie Blackwood made 32 saves as the Devils won their second straight following a six-game losing streak.

Connor McDavid and Kailer Yamamoto scored twice apiece for the Oilers, who have lost two straight, while Devin Shore had a goal. Smith recorded 35 saves.

The teams combined for three goals in a span of 87 seconds early in the first and five goals overall in the first 11:10.

McDavid scored his first goal just 1:10 after Hughes' first goal. Hischier scored 17 seconds later but Yamamoto tied the score again 2:55 later when he redirected Slater Koekkoek's shot from the blue line. The score remained tied until Mercer controlled a knuckling puck and put a shot under Smith's stick arm with 8:50 left in the first period.

The pace finally slowed and the Oilers remained behind until McDavid, who'd just jumped on the ice, took a clearing pass from Duncan Keith and beat Blackwood on the breakaway 7:57 into the second.

Kuokkanen sent a shot just over Smith's glove 5:14 into the third period to give the Devils a short-lived lead. Shore tied the score 1:52 later.

The Oilers took their lone lead when Yamamoto scored seconds after a delayed penalty -- likely on Ryan Graves for delivering a high stick from behind Yamamoto -- was called on the Devils. New Jersey challenged the call because Dougie Hamilton appeared to briefly control the puck prior to Yamamoto's goal. After a delay of almost 10 minutes, the goal was upheld because it was ruled the play was not challengeable.

Sharangovich redirected Hamilton's shot to force overtime with 31.5 seconds left.

--Field Level Media