McDavid maintains scoring lead in Oilers loss to Canucks

VANCOUVER -- Connor McDavid scored his 41st goal of the season and maintained the lead for the Art Ross Trophy in the Edmonton Oilers' 2-1 loss to the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena on Thursday.
McDavid has 103 points, six more than Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov, who had an assist in a 4-2 loss to the Boston Bruins on Thursday.

McDavid skated around Sam Gagner onto a high flip pass out of the Edmonton end at the top of the far face-off circle, fighting off the check of defenseman Michael Del Zotto and beating Jacob Markstrom just inside the post on the blocker side for a 1-0 lead at 11:33 of the first period.
WATCH: [All Oilers vs. Canucks highlights\]
"Quick release, a beautiful goal, typical Connor night," Oilers coach Todd McLellan said.
Derrick Pouliot scored his first goal in 42 games, Gagner also scored, and Markstrom made 35 saves for the Canucks (29-40-9), who have won three straight and four of the past five games after losing the previous seven in regulation.
"For me right now it's just a carryover from the feeling I had in the previous game," said Markstrom, who has won four straight starts for the first time this season and second time in his NHL career. "I just keep building on it. I go and practice and don't try to get away from the good stuff I do in the game. I would like to play like this earlier in the year. It's nice it's here right now, it's a lot of confidence."
Markstrom made his best saves in the first period, sprawling to get his left pad on a shot by Leon Draisaitl cutting through the crease alone, and pushing left to right to deny Milan Lucic on the backdoor.

"He made some huge saves," Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said. "I thought we had some really, really high-end shots and high-end chances. Unfortunately, we couldn't break him."
Cam Talbot made 28 saves for the Oilers (34-38-6), who are 0-2-1 in the past three games after going 7-2-1 in the previous 10. Edmonton was eliminated from Stanley Cup Playoff contention March 22.
"We needed to finish on some of the opportunities," McLellan said. "When we fall behind on this team they check well, they are really good through the neutral zone and I thought Markstrom had an exceptional game. Not an awful game by us but a game where the opportunities that presented themselves needed to be finished, and they weren't."
Gagner tied it 1-1 on a rebound at 15:14 of the second period, and Pouliot put the Canucks ahead 2-1 at 2:00 of the third when he took a pass cutting into the slot, faked Talbot to the ice and scored his first goal since Dec. 5.

"I thought that shift was really good," Pouliot said. "We controlled it down low. We worked their forwards and tired them out. I didn't expect that much time walking down the slot."
All five of Pouliot's goals in the NHL, and all three this season, have been game- winners. He has played 134 NHL games.
"That's a weird statistic, but pretty cool," Pouliot said.
Vancouver was eliminated from playoff contention March 14.

Goal of the game

Pouliot's goal at 2:00 of the third period.

Save of the game

Markstrom's save on McDavid with 6:38 left in the third period.

Highlight of the game

McDavid's goal at 11:33 of the first period.

They said it

"We definitely had our chances. We couldn't get that second one by [Markstrom]. They played a pretty stingy game, I think that's the way they've been playing lately, so we fought hard for our chances and when we got them we just couldn't put them in."-- Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins
"It does a lot for my confidence. When you go through struggles you have to try to keep an even keel, just like when you have success. As an offensive player, it's nice to get results. It allows you to kind of feel better with the puck." -- Canucks forward Sam Gagner after scoring his third goal in four games

Need to know

Oilers rookie defenseman Ethan Bear was a healthy scratch after playing 14 straight games since making his NHL debut March 1. McLellan said he would get back into the lineup Saturday against the Calgary Flames. … Canucks forward Adam Gaudette, who led the NCAA with 60 points (30 goals, 30 assists) this season and was named a finalist Thursday for the Hobey Baker Award as the top player in college hockey, played 10:39 in his NHL debut after signing a three-year entry-level contract Monday.

What's next

Oilers:At the Calgary Flames on Saturday (10 p.m. ET; CBC, SN, SN360, NHL.TV)
Canucks: Host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday (4 p.m. ET; SN360, FS-O, NHL.TV)