The Oilers have been looking for one of their goaltenders to step up and take the starting job and for now, at least, Anders Nilsson has been doing just that.
The 25-year-old turned aside 42 of 43 shots from a Dallas team that boasts a potent offense.
Nilsson felt like this save on Tyler Seguin set the tone for the game.
"After that I felt like I was in the game." Nilsson, early glove save on Seguin paved way to 42-save #Oilers winhttps://t.co/72K4cErwOG
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) December 5, 2015
Taylor Hall opened the scoring at the 14:49 mark of the first period, but Dallas answered in the second with a goal from Mattias Janmark.
It was Jordan Eberle who gave the Oilers the win just 45 seconds into OT.
After they received below-average goaltending from Viktor Fasth and Ben Scrivens last year, the Oilers decided to shake things up between the pipes by bringing in Nilsson and Cam Talbot in ’15-16.
Coming into the season, many expected Talbot to be Edmonton’s go-to guy, but his transition away from the New York Rangers has been difficult.
Todd McLellan has turned to Nilsson in 12 of Edmonton’s last 15 games and that decision has been paying off of late.
Nilsson has won back-to-back starts for the first time this season and he’s come up with a victory in three of his last four games.