Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are proving to be the NHL’s most dominant scoring duo, and they showcased their skills against the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday night.
McDavid scored two goals, Draisaitl added three assists, and the Edmonton Oilers defeated the Golden Knights 4-2.
“It was a full team effort,” Draisaitl said. “A big win for us.”
Draisaitl and McDavid currently lead the NHL in scoring, with Draisaitl having 47 points and McDavid 46. Draisaitl also leads the league with 31 assists, while McDavid has 18 goals and 28 assists, tied for second in assists.
“They’ve been great all season,” Edmonton coach Dave Tippett said. “They’re top-tier talent, but what’s impressive is how they’ve bought into the team concept. They’re vital to our success, but it’s been a collective effort.”
Ethan Bear and Markus Granlund also scored for the Pacific Division-leading Oilers. Goalie Mike Smith made 25 saves to earn his 250th career win. Smith, who is 7-6-1 this season, rebounded after a tough 5-1 loss to Los Angeles on Thursday.
The Oilers, now 7-3-2 in their last 12 games, are tied with the St. Louis Blues for first place in the Western Conference with 33 points.
“There’s been a lot of talk about us lately,” McDavid said. “But tonight, it was a complete team effort.”
The Golden Knights, on the other hand, struggled to keep up with Edmonton’s speed and intensity. Outskated and outplayed for much of the game, Vegas now faces a challenging road trip to Dallas and Nashville after a 2-5-2 slide, losing the last two games of a four-game homestand.
“It was disappointing from start to finish,” Vegas coach Gerard Gallant said. “We lacked execution and didn’t compete the way we needed to. We need more players stepping up to play a full team game.”
Cody Eakin and Shea Theodore scored for Vegas, and Marc-Andre Fleury made 27 saves, dropping to 10-4-1 against the Oilers in his career.
McDavid and Bear gave the Oilers a 2-0 lead before Eakin cut it in half with a goal late in the first period.
Granlund scored his 100th career point with a backhanded rebound goal just under eight minutes into the second period to make it 3-1. Theodore responded for Vegas, snapping a 20-game goal drought with a crafty move to split two defenders and score.
McDavid added his second goal on a power play early in the third, one-timing a pass from Draisaitl into the net to seal the Oilers’ win.
“We had some stretches where we were playing our game, but we couldn’t sustain it,” Theodore said. “We knew Edmonton would be fast, but we didn’t match them tonight.”
Game Notes:
- Vegas center Paul Stastny is one game away from his 900th NHL appearance.
- Wayne Gretzky was in attendance, traveling with the Oilers.
- Draisaitl has recorded nine multi-point games in his last 15, and McDavid has 12 multi-point games this season.
- The Golden Knights are now 0-5-1 at home when trailing after two periods.
- McDavid’s point streak to 10 games extended to 23 games, with 23 points (12 goals, 11 assists) during that span.
Up Next:
- Oilers: Continue their five-game road trip against Arizona on Sunday.
- Golden Knights: Begin a two-game trip in Dallas on Monday night.