McDavid has hat trick, 5 points in Oilers win against Sharks

SAN JOSE -- Connor McDavid scored a hat trick and added two assists, factoring on every goal for the Edmonton Oilers in a 5-2 win against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center on Wednesday.

Jack Roslovic and Vasily Podkolzin each had a goal and an assist, and Evan Bouchard had two assists for the Oilers (40-29-10), who snapped a two-game losing streak to win for the sixth time in eight games (6-1-1).

"It was a very good effort by everybody. Obviously, McDavid was our best player, and it showed up on the scoresheet. All around," Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said. "Another story tonight was our power play getting three goals."

Connor Ingram made eight saves in two periods before being replaced to start the third period by Tristan Jarry, who made four saves. Knoblauch said Ingram was held out for precautionary reasons after feeling discomfort during the final television timeout of the second period.

The Oilers took a two-point lead over the idle Vegas Golden Knights for first place in the Pacific Division.

Macklin Celebrini and Kiefer Sherwood scored for the Sharks (37-33-7), who are 5-2-0 in their past seven games. Alex Nedeljkovic made 21 saves.

The Sharks are three points behind the Nashville Predators with one less game played for the second wild-card spot into the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the Western Conference.

"Just this time of year, you've got to play simple, direct hockey in the offensive zone, especially," Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said. "We can't seem to grasp that consistently enough right now."

Celebrini put the Sharks in front 1-0 at 4:27 of the first period, going far side from the left circle on the power play.

"There are a lot of great players in this League,” McDavid said. “He’s right up there at the very, very top. I prefer him playing on my left side at the Olympics than going against him.”

McDavid tied the game 1-1 with a power-play goal at 6:18, jamming in a loose puck at the left post after his pass to the crease was deflected.

"He's the best player in the League, and he's also the fastest, so if you don't really slow him down or get in his way, he's just gonna skate by you," Celebrini said. "You've seen it his whole career. I mean, I watched it. I loved watching it when I was a fan, but super frustrating when you play against it."

Podkolzin gave the Oilers their first lead, 2-1, with a power-play goal at 18:38. McDavid found Ryan Nugent-Hopkins at the right face-off dot, and he threw a puck in front that Podkolzin deflected through Nedeljkovic's five-hole.

Roslovic pushed the lead to 3-1 with a power-play goal at 3:33 of the second period. McDavid’s pass from his own goal line to the Sharks’ blue line sent Roslovic in on a breakaway, and his move to the backhand beat Nedeljkovic's right pad.

Sherwood cut it to 3-2 for San Jose at 4:37 with a redirect in the slot of Alexander Wennberg’s shot from the point.

McDavid made it 4-2 at 5:53, driving to the net and cutting across above the crease, avoiding Nedeljkovic’s poke check attempt and tapping the puck into an open net.

"Get him the puck,” Bouchard said. “When you see him playing the way he was tonight and most of the season, you want to get him the puck. He makes things happen when not many other people can.”

McDavid completed his hat trick to make it 5-2 at 14:13. In a 2-on-1 with Roslovic, McDavid’s pass deflected off Dmitry Orlov's skate and through Nedeljkovic's five-hole.

NOTES: McDavid leads the NHL with 133 points (47 goals, 86 assists). It’s his third 130-point season, tied with Marcel Dionne for fourth-most in NHL history behind Wayne Gretzky (13), Mario Lemieux (six), and Phil Esposito (four). … McDavid’s 14 five-point games are tied with Paul Coffey and Gilbert Perreault for the 10th-most in NHL history. … Bouchard has 91 points (21 goals, 70 assists), becoming the second defenseman in Oilers history to reach 90 points, and the first since Coffey did it for the fourth straight season in 1985-86. … Wennberg extended his point streak to eight games (10 points; five goals, five assists). … Oilers forward Jason Dickinson left the game in the third period after taking a shot off his left leg. There was no update on his status postgame.