It was a bitter pill to swallow for the Bruins and Jeremy Swayman, who led 2-0 after the first game and then saw the lead disappear when Draisaitl defeated Zach Hyman’s goals in the second game and just over two Minutes before the end of regular time by McDavid.

Until McDavid equalized, the Bruins played a tight game in all three zones to silence the powerful Oilers.

“Yes, they’re both world-class players, but I don’t think we can give him too much respect in the room,” Bruins forward Mark Kastelic said. “I think that’s one of the things too. I think we might give them a little too much respect in the future and I think we just have to continue to be tough on them and not let them take advantage of us.”

Boston fell to 17-13-4 and ended its five-game Western swing at 2-2-1, picking up five points in its last three games.

While the temperatures outside continued to drop – it was minus 17 degrees Celsius at puck drop (OK, that’s degrees Celsius, but this is Canada), the first 20 minutes inside were sizzling for the Bruins.

The Bruins took a 2-0 lead that easily could have been 4-0 without some big saves from Stuart Skinner.

Even more impressive was her physicality and attention to detail in all three zones. Boston held the Oilers to just five shots in the first game.

Elias Lindholm got the Bruins on the court just 1:07 into the game, circling the circle to Skinner’s right and hitting the goalie over his shoulder to the top shelf. Brad Marchand and Charlie McAvoy picked up the assists, but credit big Justin Brazeau for putting up a nice 6-foot-5-inch, 220-pound screen in front of Skinner.

David Pastrnak, the hero of Tuesday night’s OT win in Calgary, had a few nice chances to score.

The Bruins’ leading scorer had two partial breakaways. The first time, he got around defenseman Evan Bouchard, but couldn’t get the puck away quickly enough and Skinner failed. The second time around, McAvoy sent a rainbow pass that Pastrnak played in the neutral zone (think Brady to Moss circa 2007) and broke in alone against Skinner. This time the Edmonton goalkeeper simply has a glove on him.

The physicality increased midway through the game, highlighted by Marchand’s shoulder drop on Leon Draisaitl, Kastelic’s mid-ice board rattler on Draisaitl and Andrew Peeke’s corner crunch on Viktor Arvidsson.

Kastelic doubled the lead with a beauty.

The big center swept past Mattias Janmark at the blue line, rolled toward the slot and around Troy Stecher before deflecting a backhander past Skinner at 17:35.

“It all happened pretty quickly. (Johnny Beecher), I think it was a good play to knock him out of the air and put him in a good position for me. And I think Marc (McLaughlin) made a small selection here too,” said Kastelic. “And I think I was looking for someone (at the) back door and there was no one there and I just tried to pick it up.”

The Oilers looked more like the reigning Western Conference champion Oilers in the second half, especially because coach Kris Knoblauch put McDavid and Draisaitl on the same line.

The dynamic duo created plenty of chances to score, but it was Zach Hyman, Edmonton’s hottest player, who cut the deficit in half.

Hyman hit a puck that Draisaitl shot from the corner, and it slipped off Swayman’s right skate and into the net at 11:17.

It was Hyman’s eighth goal in his last seven games and sparked an offensive rebellion from the hosts, who outscored Boston 10-7 in the middle period.

Both clubs had two power play chances in the second half, but neither was able to capitalize on them.

When Nikita Zadorov decided to bring down Bouchard, it broke a streak of four penalty-free periods for the Bruins.

The Oilers pushed hard in the third and their work paid off when McDavid charged in and pushed a backhander through Swayman’s pads.

“I think I focused too much on the passing option and opened myself up a little too much, and he’s a great player, so he made a play and saw an opportunity,” Swayman said. “It was unfortunate.”

It was a loss, but all was not lost.

“It was a solid (performance), especially in the first third. Great start from our team, we stopped by to check it out. We are committed to control, good habits and good details,” said coach Joe Sacco. “It turned in their favor a little bit in the second third. I thought the third period was pretty even until they started pushing hard towards the end of the game. It’s just a shame we couldn’t get that extra point.”

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Jim McBride can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @globejimmcbride.