GAME STORY: Oilers 5, Canucks 2

EDMONTON, AB - Captain Connor went scorched earth on Thursday.
Connor McDavid was held off the scoresheet in the Oilers season-opening loss to the Canucks last night, but there was no way he was letting that happen again in the rematch as he scored three goals and one assist to lead Edmonton to a dominant 5-2 victory.
His occassional linemate and go-to partner in crime, last season's league MVP Leon Draisaitl, recorded four assists and now has five on the season in just two games as he pursues a second consecutive Art Ross Trophy as the NHL's points leader.

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POST-GAME RAW | McDavid
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FIRST BLOOD

After coming up empty on four opportunities last night, the lethal Oilers power-play corps wasted no time scoring their first of the season with the first man advantage of the game. McDavid found Draisaitl headed towards the net and the reigning Hart Memorial Trophy winner's shot hit the far post before Ryan Nugent-Hopkins converted from the crease to make it 1-0 en route to a three-point night.

PLAY OF THE GAME

Either of McDavid's first two goals could have taken this honour but his middle-frame power-play marker was a true challenge of the laws of physics. The captain built up some steam in his own zone, took a drop-pass from Draisaitl in neutral territory, turned on the jets to the tune of 37 km/h, catapulted himself into the Canucks zone, stopped on a dime in front of helpless defender Alex Edler and sniped a wrist shot top shelf on Thatcher Demko.

SAVE OF THE GAME

The Oilers took a 2-0 lead into the second period and Mikko Koskinen was determined to keep it that way for a little longer as he made back-to-back-to-back stops on a Canucks flurry. The big Finn made an initial glove save on Quinn Hughes, then denied Tyler Motte's attempt, then made a diving stick save on Elias Pettersson's wrap-around offering. Koskinen finished with an impressive 38 saves on the night to earn his first victory.

TURNING POINT

Motte's goal midway through the second period kept the Canucks close as the score was 3-2 before McDavid's hat-trick tally at 15:08 of the middle frame gave the Oilers some much-appreciated breathing room. The captain cut to the net and corralled another brilliant backhand pass from Draisaitl, getting denied by Demko on his first shot but easily depositing the rebound for his third of the night.

TOP PERFORMER

McDavid recorded his seventh career hat-trick (eighth if you also include his three-goal game against Chicago during the 2020 Stanley Cup Qualifiers) and 25th multi-goal game. Both he and Draisaitl now have 25 multi-goal games, tying them for ninth in Oilers franchise history. Only Alex Ovechkin (14), David Pastrnak (8) and Patrik Laine (8) have recorded more regular-season hat-tricks since the start of McDavid's rookie season in 2015-16.

NEXT UP

With the two-game back-to-back season-opening series against Vancouver complete, the Oilers will welcome the Montreal Canadiens to Rogers Place for another two-game series in the all-Canadian North Division starting Saturday at 5pm MT. Unlike the opening series, the teams will get a day of rest in between their two games, with the second matchup slated for Monday at 7pm MT.

PARTING WORDS

"It's so hard to defend... I wouldn't want to be that guy standing on the blueline with him coming a thousand miles an hour at me," Draisaitl said of McDavid's blazing speed with the puck displayed on his second goal of the game. "He just has that gift that no one else has with that speed, the hands, the edges and the head to do the things he does."
"That's the position we want to be in all season long, up in the third period and being able to hold those leads," McDavid said of the Oilers taking a 4-2 advantage into the final frame and keeping the Canucks at bay. "I liked the way we were able to find a fifth (goal) and finish the game off."
"You get those games where he just takes over," Coach Dave Tippett said of McDavid's performance.