EDMONTON -- The Edmonton Oilers and their core of young, offensively talented players are beginning to learn how to win tight, defensive games.
Oilers defenseman Andrej Sekera scored 2:47 into overtime, giving Edmonton a 1-0 win against the Carolina Hurricanes at Rexall Place on Monday.
Sekera followed his initial shot and tapped the rebound through Hurricanes goaltender Cam Ward to lift the Oilers (17-21-3) to their second consecutive win. It was Sekera's second overtime goal this season.
Oilers goaltender Cam Talbot made 29 saves for his first shutout of the season and ninth of his career.
"I think it's a sign of maturity when you're able to do it [play defensively] repetitively, one game after another when you need it," Oilers coach Todd McLellan said. "Tonight was a start. We checked well. It probably wasn't the most enjoyable game to watch, it was a chess match. It was tight-checking both ways, there wasn't many opportunities and we're going to have games like that, not a lot different than the Anaheim [Ducks] game the other night [a 1-0 loss on Thursday], where we just didn't get the one goal."
Ward made 26 saves for the Hurricanes (16-17-7), who have lost back-to-back games in overtime.
The Oilers and Hurricanes took a conservative approach to the game and did not allow many clear-cut opportunities.
"It was a tight game, there wasn't a lot of chances either way," Hurricanes coach Bill Peters said. "They got some chances in transition when we turned it over. We had a hard time making plays as the game went along. We started on time, but from that point on, I thought we struggled with execution."
Carolina's Jordan Staal had the best chance in a tight-checking first period, firing a shot through traffic that hit the post.
Play opened up in the second period, with the teams exchanging a number of opportunities.
Edmonton's Jordan Eberle found room in the slot and took a shot that Ward was able to smoother. Minutes later, Ward made a good save on Taylor Hall streaking down right wing.
"We knew it was going to be that type of game, we're used to it, the last three games have been like that," Eberle said. "You just have to make sure you don't make mistakes, keep trying to get pucks by them and try to create stuff in the cycle. I thought for the most part, we did that, we had good chances to score. Our power play wasn't as good as it could have been, but at the end of the day, we didn't give up anything and found a way to win."
Carolina defenseman Justin Faulk had a good opportunity to open the scoring in the second period when he took a pass in front of the Oilers' net, but was unable to finish off a backhand. Carolina out-shot Edmonton 18-14 through two periods.
"I think we battled pretty well tonight, we had our chances and so did they," Hurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin said. "But I think, overall, for the most part, the third period was the best. That's where we got the most chances, but we just had to bear down on the ones we got."
Eberle had the Oilers' best chance in the third period, but Ward stopped his backhand shot from in front.
The Hurricanes generated their best opportunities during a late power play with Oilers defenseman Brad Hunt in the penalty box for hooking.
"I'm not sure it's a penalty we needed to take," McLellan said. "We probably could have retreated and killed the play anyhow, but the penalty-killers did a good job. We had a couple of important of blocked shots and we're aware that Justin Faulk does most of their scoring, so we tried to take him away."
Ward made a good save on Teddy Purcell with 1.4 seconds left in the third period to take the game into overtime. Purcell was set up by center Leon Draisaitl from behind the Hurricanes' net and managed to get off a quick shot, but Ward swallowed it up.
In overtime, Draisaitl had a good opportunity, cutting to the net but was stopped by Ward. Minutes later, rookie defenseman Noah Hanifin was stopped by Talbot on a 3-on-1 rush.
Sekera went on to score the winner, taking a pass from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins in the slot, firing a shot on net, following his rebound and poking it home before Ward was able to tip it away.
"When you have the chance you shoot it and I shot the puck, followed the rebound and it went in," Sekera said. "I had a feeling that was going to be a 1-0 game. They play a good north-south game, they're very good in all three zones and we knew it was going to be a grind until the end and whoever would break first, would lose."
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