Joe Yerdon – NHL.com Correspondent
BUFFALO — Connor McDavid scored two goals, including the game-winner with 1:12 left in overtime, to help the Edmonton Oilers to a 2-1 win against the Buffalo Sabres at First Niagara Center on Tuesday.
McDavid’s second goal came on a rush up the right wing side in which he put a backhand shot past Sabres goalie Robin Lehner for his 12th goal of the season.
McDavid, the No. 1 pick in the 2015 NHL Draft, scored moments after Sabres rookie Jack Eichel, the No. 2 selection, rushed against Oilers goalie Cam Talbot and put a spinning backhand shot wide. McDavid picked up the puck following that shot and took it the rest of the way for the goal.
This was the first time McDavid and Eichel faced each other in the NHL; McDavid missed the first game between the Oilers and Sabres on Dec. 6 because of a fractured clavicle.
Edmonton (24-34-7) has won back-to-back games. Buffalo (25-31-8) has lost two straight and four of its past five.
Sabres forward Cal O’Reilly made it 1-1 with 10:54 left in the third period. Sam Reinhart made a spinning backhanded pass across to O’Reilly, who tapped it past Talbot for his first goal of the season.
O’Reilly was recalled from Rochester of the American Hockey League earlier Tuesday.
McDavid gave the Oilers a 1-0 lead 22 seconds into the game when he got in behind Sabres defensemen Jake McCabe and Zach Bogosian and received a pass from Jordan Eberle and put a backhand shot past Lehner.
Andrej Sekera nearly gave the Oilers a 2-0 lead with 0.4 seconds left in the second period. Sekera put a rebound of an Adam Cracknell shot past Lehner, but Sabres coach Dan Bylsma challenged the call on the ice to review whether the Oilers were offside on the goal.
Replays concluded that Edmonton forward Anton Lander was offside prior to the goal.
(Reprinted with permission of the Buffalo Sabres)
