Edmonton's Connor McDavid took over the NHL points lead with a goal and two assists Saturday afternoon as the Oilers won their fifth straight game in a 4-2 triumph over the host Winnipeg Jets.
Tied at 68 points with teammate Leon Draisaitl and Florida's Jonathan Huberdeau to start the final regular-season matchup with Winnipeg, the Edmonton captain moved to a league-best 71.
Before scoring his 26th goal, McDavid assisted on markers by Zach Hyman (power play) and Kailer Yamamoto for the Oilers, who finished 2-1-0 against Winnipeg and are 21-8-0 against Western Conference foes.
Tyson Barrie produced two helpers, Draisaitl added a marker for his 69th point, Darnell Nurse scored and Mikko Koskinen made 22 saves.
Newly minted Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft watched his group stay perfect during his tenure -- 5-0-0 -- and the club improved to 15-0-0 when scoring first.
The Jets' offense had scored at least five goals in three of the past four games, but only got tallies from Adam Lowry and Kyle Connor.
Goalie Connor Hellebuyck stopped 36 shots as Winnipeg finished its four-game homestand 2-2-0, and Brenden Dillon skated in his 700th career game.
In the final matchup against the Jets and with Hyman parked out front of Hellebuyck, Barrie unleashed a point blast after a pass from McDavid. Hyman clipped a piece of the shot for a 1-0 lead at 12:17.
McDavid found the speedy Yamamoto streaking down the wing and fed the right wing for a tight shot on goal. Yamamoto then roofed home his own rebound for his 10th at 7:46 of the second.
Three minutes later, Draisaitl whipped a backhanded, circle-to-circle pass to McDavid, who was alone near the far post and found the net for a 3-0 lead.
On Winnipeg's second short-handed breakaway, Lowry snapped his 25-game goalless streak with the team's fifth shorty at 10:45 of the third -- its second consecutive game netting on the penalty kill.
Connor brought the Jets to within one with a one-timer from the right circle on the power play -- his 29th goal and eighth in the past 13 matches.
Edmonton was popped for too many men on the ice with 2:05 left, and Hellebuyck went to the bench for the extra skater with 35 seconds remaining.
But in the six-on-four scenario, Nurse sent a rink-long shot into the empty goal with three seconds on the clock.
--Field Level Media
Edmonton | Winnipeg | |
Connor McDavid 3 | Points | Kyle Connor 1 |
Connor McDavid 1 | Goals | Kyle Connor 1 |
Connor McDavid 2 | Assists | Connor Hellebuyck 1 |
Zach Hyman 1 | Power Play Goals | Kyle Connor 1 |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | Adam Lowry 1 |
Mikko Koskinen .917 | Save Percentage | Connor Hellebuyck .923 |
Mikko Koskinen 22 | Saves | Connor Hellebuyck 36 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Edmonton | 40 | 4 | 1-5 | 5-6 | 14 | 29 |
Winnipeg | 24 | 2 | 1-6 | 4-5 | 12 | 25 |