THE CANADIAN PRESS
OTTAWA -- Taylor Hall scored 17 seconds into overtime Saturday as the Edmonton Oilers defeated the Ottawa Senators 4-3.
After taking the initial shot, Hall circled the Senators net and put a backhand into the back of the goal behind Ottawa goalie netminder Craig Anderson.
Shawn Horcoff had given the Oilers a 3-2 lead 42 seconds into the third period but the Senators got the equalizer at 9:30 of the period when Erik Karlsson buried his second point shot of a sequence to force the eventual overtime.
Daniel Alfredsson and Milan Michalek also scored for the Senators (28-22-7), while Anderson made 38 saves.
The Oilers (21-28-5) got a 39-save performance from Nikolai Khabibulin and goals in regulation from Magnus Paajarvi and Ben Eager.
There was a full house in attendance at Scotiabank Place, including close to 3,000 hockey supporters from Quebec City, decked out mostly in Nordiques apparel. They were showing their support and desire for a return to the NHL some 16 seasons after their franchise moved to Colorado and became the Avalanche.
With 16 minutes to play in each period they stood and cheered, waving white towels in clusters throughout the upper deck of the arena.
The Oilers were down a goal twice in the second period but drew even with the Senators by the end of the period.
Paajarvi raised his arms to the sky at 14:05 to tie the score 1-1 off a rebound. The goal was his first of the season.
Ales Hemsky carried the puck on the outside and got a shot off that Anderson stopped, but the rebound went right to Paajarvi in the slot.
It didn't take the Senators long to regain the lead however, as Michalek but a backhand past Khabibulin before driving the Oilers' netminder into the net.
The goal was the first in 13 games for Michalek and just his fifth in his past 22 games.
Before the end of the period however, the Oilers managed to tie the game once again as Eager beat Anderson between the legs with a shot from the faceoff circle with a little more than a minute to play in the period.
Alfredsson scored the only goal of the first period as he deflected a point shot from Karlsson past Khabibulin at 4:36, just 11 seconds after Hall emerged from the penalty box after serving the first of his two minor penalties in the opening 20 minutes.
.Notes: The Senators honoured Chris Phillips before the game. The veteran defenceman played his 1,000th game on Thursday. ... Ottawa had won eight of the past 10 meetings with the Oilers by an aggregate score of 44-32. ... Ottawa scored the first goal of the game for just the third time in their past 13 games. ... Matt Carkner and Zenon Konopka were healthy scratches for the Senators. ... Edmonton had lost nine straight road games and had just one road win in their past 17 games prior to Saturday. ... Cam Barker and Darcy Hordichuk were healthy scratches for the Oilers Saturday.