Connor McDavid, Oilers make Rangers tough

Connor McDavid scored twice in the third period and added an assist in the second, and Leon Draisaitl had a goal and an assist as the host Edmonton Oilers rolled to a 6-2 victory over the New York Rangers on Saturday night.

McDavid had at least three points in a game for the fourth time this season by making three brilliant plays. He finished a give-and-go with Draisaitl to give Edmonton a 3-0 lead with 11:06 left in the second during a four-on-four before scoring twice in a span of 3:48 in the last period.

Draisaitl moved into a tie with Florida Panthers’ Sam Reinhart for the league lead by scoring his 16th goal of the season.

McDavid scored 5:49 into the third on a redirection of an Evan Bouchard shot, then faked a pass as New York defenseman Victor Mancini dived into the slot before lofting a shot over Jonathan Quick’s right pad.

Darnell Nurse scored a shorthanded goal in the waning seconds of the first period, while Vasily Podkolzin and Bouchard also scored for the Oilers, who are 5-2-1 in their last eight games. Connor Brown and Mattias Janmark each collected two assists for Edmonton, which is 8-2-1 in its last 11 meetings with New York.

Stuart Skinner made 32 saves and was only beaten by Artemi Panarin with 4:58 left in the second and 3:31 left in the third.

Quick allowed six goals on 40 shots.

The Oilers spent virtually the entire opening period in the offensive zone. After Panarin dropped the puck along the boards near the right side of the blue line, the Oilers quickly moved into the offensive zone and Podkolzin sent a one-timer from the edge of the right circle past Quick with 2:26 remaining.

Edmonton took a 2-0 lead when Nurse entered the offensive zone unhindered, waited for a pass from Janmark, gained possession in the right circle and sent a shot past Quick’s glove.

Just over three minutes after Draisaitl scored, Bouchard took a drop pass from Janmark and lifted a shot from the slot over Quick’s stick.

–Field-level media