Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored twice and had an assist, Zach Hyman scored and had an assist, and Leon Draisaitl had two assists for the Oilers (18-13-6), who rounded out a five-game road trip yesterday with a 5-2 loss at the Minnesota Wild.
Connor Ingram made 26 saves in his Oilers debut and first NHL game since Feb. 22 with Utah. He was recalled from Bakersfield of the American Hockey League on Friday, when Tristan Jarry (lower body) was moved to injured reserve.
“It’s been hectic, but at the end of the day, no matter what level you’re in, my job is just to stop the puck,” Ingram said. “I don’t have to learn a forecheck or things like that, my job never changes. Guys did a great job making me feel welcome and showing me everything I need to know. It’s been great.
“There’s a lot of days I didn’t think it would ever happen again. It’s just the truth of it in this world. It’s a competitive game. There are 64 spots in the world to do this, so you don’t take it for granted any day that you’re up here. It’s a huge honor.”
Tomas Hertl had a goal and two assists, Mitch Marner scored and had an assist, and Noah Hanifin added three assists for the Golden Knights (16-8-10), who were also wrapping up a back-to-back of their own after losing 6-3 at the Calgary Flames on Saturday. Carter Hart made 17 saves.
“They should have been much more fatigued than we were-- it was their sixth game in nine days in six different cities, so that was not an excuse,” Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said. “We’re actually pretty good in back-to-backs, I don’t really have a reason why we wouldn’t start on time.
“What I saw was we didn’t execute or play with the same pace or compete that they did. Why that was, it’s certainly nothing to do, to me, with a back-to-back. We eventually got to our game, and if we wouldn’t have we would have been embarrassed.”
The Golden Knights dropped their third straight game in regulation, which marks the first time they were held pointless in consecutive games this season.
"I believe Vegas might be the worst team or one of the lower-end teams in the first period of games, and I believe they are the best team in the third period,” Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said. “They build their game and they get better. A lot of credit on how the (Golden) Knights played in the second half of the game, but we did let our gas off a bit in the second period.
“We weren't getting the puck in deep, we were laying up, trying to make plays and pucks were getting picked off. We had to defend a lot. And when you do that, they give up opportunities or taking penalties. But we relaxed a bit.”
McDavid put Edmonton ahead 1-0 at 9:11 of the first period, taking a short pass from Draisaitl after gaining the zone, circling in from the right dot and gliding across the front of the crease before depositing the puck past the extended right pad of Hart.
“It’s sneaky. Obviously, you know how fast and how skilled he is out there, and there are plays that don’t look like anything’s going to happen, and then next thing you know it’s kind of in his hands coming up the ice with a full head of speed,” Marner said. “When that’s going on, it’s tough for anyone to cover him. He’s so shifty, so dynamic.
“Those head fakes, it’s hard not to bite on them, really, just with how quick and how fast he’s going. So, we’ve just got to do a better job in the neutral zone trying to take away his time and space.”
Nugent-Hopkins made it 2-0 on the power play at 14:37 after Draisaitl passed across the seam to find him at the backdoor for the five-hole tap in. It marked Nugent-Hopkins ninth goal of the season.
