Lafrenière scores shootout winner as red-hot Rangers rally past Oilers for 7th straight win

The New York Rangers may have been down, but never appeared to be out.

Alexis Lafrenière scored the shootout winner and added a goal in regulation as the red-hot Rangers earned a 5-4 comeback victory over the Oilers in Edmonton on Friday night. The Rangers trailed 4-1 after the first period, but remained confident in bouncing back.

"If you look at that first period, you might say that's a horrendous first period going down 4-1," said forward Mika Zibanejad. "But I thought we did some good things and the way we created some chances was good, they were things that we've been talking about all year.

Chris Kreider had a pair of goals and Zibanejad also scored for the Rangers (33-14-8), who have won seven straight and improved to 14-2-2 in their last 18 contests. Igor Shesterkin made 25 saves between regulation and overtime.

"I like the way we played," said Rangers head coach Gerard Gallant. "We were down 4-1 and I thought the game was far from over, we still have 40 minutes. It's the NHL, it's not like the game was going to be over and we battled hard and found a way."

WATCH | Rangers' Lafrenière sinks Oilers in shootout:

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Tyson Barrie, Derek Ryan and Leon Draisaitl replied for the Oilers (30-19-7), who have lost three straight and dropped to 9-1-4 in their last 14 games.

Jack Campbell stopped 34-of-38 shots for Edmonton, which has also lost seven straight games that have gone to extra time.

"We had a clear understanding that the team that came in was one of the hottest in the league and they have a lot of skill on their team, and we knew they weren't going to surrender," said Oilers head coach Jay Woodcroft.

"We were a little bit soft on the coverage on the third goal and then, you know, they scored