McDavid sets NHL season-opening assist streak mark, Oilers shut out Flames

EDMONTON -- Connor McDavid had two assists to set the NHL record for the longest season-opening assist streak at 13 games, and the Edmonton Oilers shut out the Calgary Flames 4-0 at Rogers Place on Wednesday.

McDavid passed the 12-game mark shared by Sebastian Aho (2018-19), Ken Linseman (1985-86) and Wayne Gretzky (1982-83). The Oilers captain leads the NHL with 36 points (eight goals, 28 assists).

“We wanted to win the game, that was first and foremost,” said McDavid. “I thought the game was pretty solid, it’s what we needed to do tonight.

“Calgary had been playing really, really well and scoring lots of goals. We had to defend hard and find a way to get a win.”

Tristan Jarry made 24 saves for his first shutout of the season and 24th in the NHL for the Oilers (9-2-2), who were coming off of consecutive losses for the first time this season (0-1-1). Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had two assists.

“I think any time you can blank the board like that, it also gives credit to the team in front,” Jarry said. “I think they did a great job, they kept everything to the outside and they made it easy for me.”

Dustin Wolf made 20 saves on 23 shots in 40 minutes of relief duty for the Flames (5-7-0), who had won four in a row and five of their previous six.

Devin Cooley stopped eight of the nine shots he faced before sustaining a lower-body injury following a collision in the crease with Oilers forward Colton Dach with 12 seconds left in the first period.

“You don’t want to see anyone get hurt, let alone a guy that’s been playing some of his best hockey,” Wolf said of Cooley, who started all four games of Calgary’s winning streak. “It’s unfortunate, we have to try and build around it and not rely on one guy, we’re a whole group in here, that’s how we have to play.

“We’ll just come back in here tomorrow, it’s a new day and focus on Friday.”

Dach was assessed a goalkeeper interference penalty, and Wolf came in to start the second period.

“I mean, I hate going out for the second period and seeing him not lead their team out,” Dach said. “I'm just trying to take it to the net and create a chance. But really unfortunate that he got hurt. That's part of my game, getting to front of the net. Obviously, I don't want to take a goalie out. That's not my intent. But being hard below the net, in the crease and just trying to get a goal that way.”

Mathieu Joseph put Edmonton ahead 1-0 on their first shot of the game at 7:46 of the first period. McDavid sent a pass from the right dot across the slot to Joseph for the put away underneath Cooley’s right arm.

“For two periods it was a really hard game, there was not a lot of room on the ice, it was more of a grind-type game,” said Flames coach Ryan Huska. “Certain players, I felt, for us could have been much harder than they were tonight in those types of situations and that might have been a result of the sporadic going-to-the-net-harder type of thing.”

Mattias Ekholm made it 2-0 at 4:52 of the second period with a wrist shot from the point over Wolf’s left shoulder, off the crossbar and in. The defenseman returned to the lineup after sitting out two games with a concussion.

“I thought we were a little too much in the perimeter, on the outside today compared to other games,” said Flames captain Mikael Backlund. “We didn’t get enough traffic and bodies around.

“We got enough shots, but I think that’s something we’ve done well lately and it’s something that we can do better than we did today.”

Kasperi Kapanen pushed the lead to 3-0 on the power play 55 seconds into the second period, taking a pass across the crease from McDavid and lifting it over the left pad of Wolf, who was in the splits.

Just 21 seconds later, it was 4-0 at 1:16, as Alex Formenton scored past Wolf’s glove from the slot on a centering pass by Jason Dickinson, who knocked Flames defenseman Jake Middleton off the puck along the right boards. Dickinson was playing for the first time since sitting out six games with an undisclosed injury.

“The big thing tonight is we had a good team game, everybody was involved,” said Oilers coach Mike Babcock. “’Jars’ in the second period had to make some saves. But overall, we looked after him good and he didn’t give up anything, so that’s a really good night for him and a good confidence builder for him.”

NOTES: Flames forward Brennan Othmann left at 5:04 of the first period with an upper-body injury. There was no update after the game. … Edmonton forward Leon Draisaitl’s point streak ended at seven games (15 points; nine goals, six assists). ... McDavid registered his second career 25-assist month (also 25 in February 2024). He joined Gretzky (14 times) and Mario Lemieux (3 times) as the third player in NHL history to accomplish the feat multiple times. ... McDavid is four games shy of the longest point streak of his career (17 games). ... Ekholm’s goal was the 11th by an Oilers defenseman this season, tying the Utah Mammoth for most in the NHL. ... The Oilers earned a shutout to win the Battle of Alberta for the ninth time, and first since Dec. 9, 2018.