McDavid gets five points to extend season-opening streak as Oilers cruise past Mammoth

Connor McDavid had two goals and three assists and the Edmonton Oilers won for the sixth time in seven games, 6-2 against the Utah Mammoth at Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday.

The Oilers captain extended his season-opening point streak to eight games and leads the NHL with 23 points (six goals, 17 assists). McDavid tied Mario Lemieux (1995-96) and Wayne Gretzky (1986-87) for the most assists through a player’s first eight games of a season in NHL history. He became the second fastest player to reach the 20-point mark after Lemieux did it in seven games in 1995-96.

“It’s crazy. He’s flying,” Oilers forward Zach Hyman said. “It looks like he’s hit another gear this year, finishing like crazy.

“So, it’s a good sign for our team.”

Leon Draisaitl had a goal and an assist, and Vasily Podkolzin added two assists for the Oilers (6-1-1), who had suffered their first regulation loss of the season on Thursday, 4-2 against Utah. Tristan Jarry made 26 saves.

“I just thought that we came ready to play,” Oilers coach Mike Babcock said. “They had just beaten us, we’re in their building on a Saturday night. So, anytime somebody beats you and you’re playing someone back to back, you’ve got to get to another level the next game and we clearly did that.

“We got off to a great start. I thought there were times in the third period we weren’t great, but I thought our penalty kill was outstanding tonight.”

After pushing their season-long road win streak to a franchise-best 5-0-0, the Oilers will return to Edmonton for a five-game home stand.

John Marino and Mikhail Sergachev scored for the Mammoth (6-3-0), who came in on a three-game win streak. Karel Vejmelka allowed five goals on 17 shots before being replaced in the second period by Sebastian Cossa, who made three saves.

“We knew it would be challenging, they will be ready on the other side,” Mammoth coach Andre Tourigny said. “I didn't like our compete at all in our battles. The kind of game it was in Edmonton, we knew it would be the same thing here tonight.

“I didn't like the way we were in our one-on-one battles. The way we were with the dirty pucks. Our physicality was not at the level.

“I talked about it with the team this morning; it would be a challenge for the second game in a row where we will have that level of physicality and compete. Kudos to Edmonton; they did it for two games in a row, and we didn’t.”

McDavid made it 1-0 for Edmonton just 40 seconds into the first period, getting sent in on a breakaway by Draisaitl before cutting wide through the left circle, across the slot and sliding a backhand around the left pad of Vejmelka.

It was McDavid’s seventh opening-minute goal, tying a franchise record established by Mark Messier.

Hyman pushed the lead to 2-0 on the power play at 13:21, taking a centering feed from McDavid that bounced off the skate of Sergachev in tight, and jamming the bouncing puck past Vejmelka’s right pad for his first of the season.

“We lost at home, obviously, and then to play back to back again against a great team like Utah, and you’re able to go into their building on Saturday night and put on a really strong performance and battle back and get a win, I think it’s a good sign,” said Hyman, who was playing in his first game since the season opener, before an undisclosed injury forced him to miss six games. “It was great to be back and join the guys and kind of get back into things. It’s never fun being out.

“It was nice to get one. For whatever reason, I find it hard to score the first one every year, so it’s nice to get one out of the way early.”

Just 32 seconds later, Mathieu Joseph extended the lead to 3-0 at 13:53, pouncing on a puck misplayed by Mammoth defenseman Dmitri Simashev off a face-off in Edmonton’s zone for a breakaway to send a shot under the glove of Vejmelka.

Vejmelka got a pad on another breakaway attempt by Joseph four minutes into the second period, before Kasperi Kapanen made it 4-0 at 10:57. He picked up the rebound off a point shot from Evan Bouchard that glanced off McDavid, and sent a shot from the slot that went high corner, crossbar and in over Vejmelka’s glove.

McDavid sent Draisaitl up the ice for a breakaway following a giveaway in Edmonton’s zone by Mammoth defenseman Nate Schmidt. Draisaitl scored five-hole to extend Edmonton’s lead to 5-0 at 13:48, and Vejmelka was replaced by Cossa.

Marino cut the lead to 5-1 4:25 into the third period, sending a slap shot from above the right circle through a screen and over the blocker of Jarry.

“It’s a little disappointing,” Mammoth forward Lawson Crouse said. “It kind of feels a little bit similar to the Boston game where we fell behind and then opened the game up and did it to ourselves. So, we can talk about learning, but we need to take those strides. It’s a decision, and I think the third period proves that. It's a decision to go out there, play fast, play to our identity and win battles.

“I love the response. Not giving up, it seems like we never do, but we need that from the drop of the puck.”

Sergachev scored 1:35 later, having his shot from the slot deflect high onto the top of the net before bouncing toward Jarry’s back and into the net to make it 5-2 at 6:00.

“That's the first time we played the same team back to back. Next time, we just need to be ready because every team, it doesn't matter if you win or lose, they will come in the next game and they want to beat you, especially at home,” said Sergachev. “It's going to be a lesson for us, just the small details.

“They're probably some of the best. (McDavid is) the best player in the world. You need to be ready because he can do some magic there, but just be in the right spot in the right position. I'm not playing alone against him, we had five guys tonight, if everybody plays in the system and we're going to be good.”

McDavid scored on a breakaway for the 6-2 final at 10:17 after poking the puck away from Marino in the neutral zone.

“Isn't he plus-19 or something like that?” Babcock said. “Lots of guys have points, or they have them all in power play, and still you look at them and they're plus-3 or the minus, and he's done everything that I've asked, and done it with a way that he seems to enjoy it.

“He takes pride in doing things right. Well, it's impossible to coach a team when your best player isn't driving, and this guy's driving. But he has a bunch of support, and so we got a lot of workers, which is positive, and I think you're going to see our team really grow here as we get people back and get deeper, but obviously he's a special player. We're lucky we’ve got some special players.”

NOTES: Colton Dach had three shots on goal in 16:52 after missing the past four games and Jake Walman was plus-1 in 16:34 after missing the past three games. … Barrett Hayton's five-game point streak (one goal, five assists) ended for Utah. … Draisaitl extended his goal streak to three games (three goals). … Bouchard had an assist to push his point streak to five games (two goals, six assists) and leads NHL defenseman with 16 points (six goals, 10 assists).