McDavid scores four goals in Oilers win against Lightning

EDMONTON -- Connor McDavid scored four goals for the first time in his NHL career, and the Edmonton Oilers defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 6-2 at Rogers Place on Monday.

McDavid, who finished with five points, became the third player to score four goals in a game this season, joining Boston Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron (Jan. 6) and Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin(Oct. 7).
WATCH: [All Lightning vs. Oilers highlights]
Leon Draisaitl had a goal and two assists, and Cam Talbot made 32 saves for Edmonton (23-24-4), which is 5-1-1 in its past seven games.
"Any time the No. 1 team rolls into your building, you need to be up for it and ready to go," McDavid said. "We have laid a few eggs against teams from the East Coast and we needed to get one against an Eastern team."

Alex Killorn and Yanni Gourde scored for Tampa Bay (36-14-3), which went 5-3-0 on its eight-game road trip. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 22 saves before being replaced at the start of the third period by Louis Domingue, who made seven saves.
"He's the best or one of the best with [Sidney] Crosby in the world," Lightning forward Tyler Johnson said of McDavid. "He had a heck of a game. He proved his value tonight. We have to do a better job against him though. We have to be better. But you have to give him a lot of credit, he's a good player."
McDavid scored on the power play at 1:48 of the first period to give Edmonton a 1-0 lead after redirecting a pass from Ryan Strome in front of the crease.
Killorn tied it 1-1 at 9:42 on a wrist shot after the puck bounced to him off the stick of Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse.
Draisaitl scored on the power play at 17:24 to give Edmonton a 2-1 lead, taking a cross-crease pass from Strome and scoring five-hole on Vasilevskiy.

"We get the goal back fairly quickly and we're pretty confident in ourselves, and pretty positive, and then we give up another power-play goal, which lets us down a little bit," Killorn said. "After that, we never seemed to be able to fight our way back."
McDavid scored at 2:33 of the second period, skating around Lightning forward Matthew Peca on a rush and shooting the puck over Vasilevskiy from a sharp angle to make it 3-1.
"When you are as good as he is, there is no such thing as luck," Draisaitl said. "You create your own bounces. He just has that ability to take a game over. There are very, very few players in this world who can do something like that."
Iiro Pakarinen made it 4-1 at 12:59 after scoring short side on a 2-on-1 rush. The goal was Pakarinen's first on the season.
Gourde scored on the power play at 1:54 of the third period, getting the rebound off his initial shot in the crease and shooting past Talbot to make it 4-2.

McDavid got the hat trick after collecting the puck off a turnover at the point by Tampa Bay defenseman Mikhail Sergachev and scoring on a breakaway at 6:55 to extend Edmonton's lead to 5-2.
"As an offensive player, when you score on your first shift, usually it means it's going to be a good night, you're feeling really good," Lightning center Steven Stamkos said. "He's the best skater in the world, and I think him and Sid are the best players in the world, and when you give those guys confidence, you can see what happens."
McDavid scored his fourth goal at 13:49 when his pass in the corner deflected up in the air and was knocked into the net after landing at the skates of Chris Kunitz to make it 6-2.
"I had a few four-goal games in junior. I had a five-goal game too, but that's junior," McDavid said. "I just felt good all day."

Goal of the game

McDavid's goal at 2:33 of the second period.

Save of the game

Talbot's save on Sergachev at 12:59 of the third period.

Highlight of the game

McDavid's goal at 6:55 of the third period.

They said it

"It was kind of his night and the fourth goal kind of says it all. But he's one of the top players in the League. He's blessed with the speed and the skill and everything you want in a hockey player. He's got it and he was on tonight. He's fun to watch." -- Lightning coach Jon Cooper on Connor McDavid
"It seems like he is from another planet. It is not fair, really. He works hard and it is not just a given talent. He works on the stuff he wants to work on and that is what makes him so good." -- Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl on Connor McDavid

Need to know

McDavid is the first Oilers player to score four goals in a game since Sam Gagner on Feb. 2, 2012 against the Chicago Blackhawks (four goals, four assists). McDavid's other five-point game was on Feb. 11, 2016 against the Toronto Maple Leafs (two goals, three assists)… Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov, the NHL's leading scorer, hasn't scored a goal in his past 11 games… Draisaitl has 12 points (two goals, 10 assists) in his past eight games.

What's next

Lightning: Host the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday (7:30 p.m. ET; SNE, SNO, SNP, SUN, NHL.TV)
Oilers: At the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday (10:30 p.m. ET; FS-W, SNW, NHL.TV)