Oilers score eight in win against Golden Knights

EDMONTON --Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins each scored two goals for the Edmonton Oilers in an 8-2 win against the Vegas Golden Knights at Rogers Place on Tuesday.
Oscar Klefbom, Pat Maroon, Matt Benning and Mark Letestu also scored for Edmonton (7-9-2) in its biggest offensive output of the season. Cam Talbot made 22 saves.

WATCH: [All Golden Knights vs. Oilers highlights]
"We kind of put everything together tonight and things went well for us," Nugent-Hopkins said. "We can't get away from that now. There have been times this season, at home especially, where we have a good game then come out with a crummy one. We have to stick with this and play the same way."
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and James Neal scored for Vegas (10-6-1), which was unable to equal an NHL record for fastest 11 wins from the start of an inaugural season, set by the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Arenas (11-6-0) in 1917-18, the NHL's first season.
Maxime Lagace gave up seven goals on 29 shots before being replaced by Dylan Ferguson at 10:27 of the third period. Ferguson, 19, made one save in his NHL debut.

"Everything went wrong tonight, we weren't skating, we gave them too many odd-man rushes and they're a talented team and they take advantage of that," Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant said. "Right from the start it wasn't a good game for us. I thought we got a little better in the second, but it was a bad game overall."
Klefbom scored on a shorthanded 2-on-1 rush at 6:28 of the first period to give Edmonton a 1-0 lead. Nugent-Hopkins put the Oilers up 2-0 on the power play at 17:42. Maroon made it 3-0 at 18:39 on a shot from the slot.
"It was a big night for us on special teams tonight," Klefbom said. "It was just a matter of time for the power play (3-for-3). It's been frustrating since we have been creating a lot of chances and been very close. We've been missing on execution. It was nice to get some results tonight, that's for sure."

Benning scored at 10:19 of the second period, tipping in a point shot from Klefbom to give the Oilers a 4-0 lead. Bellemare made it 4-1 at 14:41, picking the top corner on Talbot from the right face-off circle.
McDavid was credited with a power-play goal 57 seconds into the third period to make it 5-1, after Golden Knights defenseman Deryk Engelland knocked the puck into his own net on a scramble in front.
"We weren't sharp, we weren't good, we weren't playing our game," Engelland said. "We sat back, we weren't in their faces like we normally play and a lot of us weren't ready to go. They played well, they got eight on us and we have to learn from that and move on."

Neal scored at 1:22 to make it 5-2.
McDavid made it 6-2 at 4:58, cutting into the slot and beating Lagace.
Nugent-Hopkins scored at 9:50 to put Edmonton up 7-2, and Letestu scored on the power play on Ferguson at 15:38 for an 8-2 lead.
Ferguson is up on an emergency basis from Kamloops of the Western Hockey League. The Golden Knights' top three goaltenders, Marc-Andre Fleury, Malcolm Subban and Oscar Dansk, are injured.
"Obviously it wasn't the outcome the team wanted, but for me, I'm just really grateful to get that opportunity," Ferguson said. "It's really every kid's dream, and the fact that it was me, I'm really grateful for the opportunity. It all seems surreal."

Goal of the game

McDavid's goal at 4:58 of the third period.

Save of the game

Ferguson's first NHL save, on Maroon at 13:10 of the third period.

Highlight of the game

Maroon's goal with 1:21 left in the first period.

They said it

"I think the way our season was going, it's going to make us make sure we're really staying on top of the details that we have to do to be successful. We know what type of team we have here, and we know that if you try and challenge a team like this with 2-on-1s and 3-on-2s, it could be any goalie playing for us right now and it wouldn't matter." -- Golden Knights forward David Perron
"Tonight a lot of guys got rewarded, and it was a little more relaxed on the bench. A little bit of fun in the game, and we haven't had that in a while." -- Oilers coach Todd McLellan

Need to know

McDavid is tied for second in the NHL with Nicklas Backstrom of the Washington Capitals for most games (18) with three or more points since the start of the 2015-16 season. Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks is first with 21. ... The Oilers improved their record in first games against expansion teams to 6-4-0. They have won their past five … Edmonton had 13 players with at least a point … The loss was the biggest of the season for Vegas.

What's next

Golden Knights: At the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday (10 p.m. ET; SNP, ATTSN-RM, NHL.TV)
Oilers: Host the St. Louis Blues on Thursday (9 p.m. ET; SNW, FS-MW, NHL.TV)