EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Connor McDavid had a goal and four assists, and the Edmonton Oilers extended their win streak to six games with a 5-2 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had two goals and an assist for Edmonton, which improved to 14-3-0 in its last 17 games. Zach Hyman had a goal and two assists, and Leon Draisaitl also scored.
Travis Konecny and Marc Staal scored for the Flyers, who have lost three in a row and five of their last six.
McDavid put the Oilers in front with his 14th goal with 4:05 left in the first period. The center turned around a defender and then sent a snap shot through the legs of Flyers goalie Carter Hart.
The Oilers took a 2-0 lead 8:12 into the second. McDavid made a no-look backhand pass to Hyman in front, and he was able to lift a backhand of his own past Hart for his 22nd of the season.
It was McDavid’s 900th career regular-season point, coming in his 602nd game. The captain is the fifth-fastest player in NHL history to record his 900th point, behind only Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Mike Bossy and Peter Stastny.
“It’s another nice milestone, a chance to reflect on some of the work you’ve done,” McDavid said.
Hyman called McDavid “a generational talent.”
“It’s pretty special in the era he plays in to be in categories with the guys he is,” he said. “I don’t think anybody is even close in recent memory. It is pretty unbelievable, and it is pretty special having the opportunity to play with him.”
Philadelphia got one back at 11:10 when a loose puck bounced to Konecny, who was coming in with speed and was able to lift a shot past Edmonton goalie Stuart Skinner for his 18th.
The Flyers then tied it with 3 minutes left in the second. Staal jumped up into the play and took a Konecny feed before beating Skinner for his first goal of the campaign.
Edmonton regained the lead on Nugent-Hopkins’ power-play goal with 55 seconds remaining in the middle frame, finishing a nice three-way passing play in tight.
“We finally find our game in the second period and we just need to kill that one off at the end,” Flyers coach John Tortorella said. “I think we were looking to try to get a shorty, we left the zone a couple of times and it ends up in the back of our net.
“We need to get out of that second period at least to give us a fighting chance in the third with some momentum. And we lose the momentum right at the end.”
The Oilers made it 4-2 with an extra attacker on for a delayed penalty just 1:27 into the third. McDavid circled down low before sending it back to the high slot for Draisaitl, who hammered home his 18th goal of the season upstairs past Hart. It was Draisaitl’s fourth consecutive game with a goal.
McDavid picked up his fifth point with nine minutes to play, sending a saucer pass to Nugent-Hopkins, who got 11th goal of the season.
It was the 10th five-point game of McDavid’s career. He has hit six points once.
Leave a Reply