National Hockey League
Edmonton 8, Ottawa 5
When: 9:00 PM ET, Sunday, January 31, 2021
Where: Rogers Place, Edmonton, Alberta
Referees: Reid Anderson, Marc Joannette
Linesmen: Scott Cherrey, Mark Shewchyk
Attendance: N/A

Leon Draisaitl collected a career-high six assists while Connor McDavid netted one goal and five points to lead the host Edmonton Oilers to a wild 8-5 victory over the Ottawa Senators in a 1980s-style throwback affair Sunday night.

Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner, a 2017 third-round draft pick, made 33 saves to win in his NHL debut.

McDavid is now up to 22 points on the season, while Draisaitl is at 21, the most by an Oilers player through 11 games since Wayne Gretzky had 26 points in 1987-88. The NHL record for assists in a game is seven, set by Gretzky (three times) and Billy Taylor in 1947.

Draisaitl became the first NHL player to post six assists in a game since Philadelphia's Eric Lindros on Feb. 26, 1997 and 29th in league history.

Ottawa has lost eight straight (0-7-1) and surrendered four or more goals in each of its last seven. The Senators have allowed 24 goals over their last four defeats.

The scoring came fast and furious. Edmonton's Dominik Kahun opened the scoring just eight seconds into the game, which tied a franchise record set by Gretzky for the fastest tally to start a game. It's also the quickest goal ever for an Edmonton home game.

Then, James Neal netted the first of his two goals, making it a 2-0 lead with a power-play goal at the 4:15 mark. After Colin White put the Senators on the board 83 seconds later, Tyson Barrie netted Edmonton's second man-advantage marker at the 7:20 mark, which chased Ottawa starting goalie Matt Murray in favor of Marcus Hogberg.

Neal potted his second of the game on the first shot Hogberg faced, a wrist shot from just inside the top of the right circle before the midway point of the opening period, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins netted another power-play goal a few minutes later.

The Senators netted a couple of goals 92 seconds apart before the first intermission -- Brady Tkachuk scored off a rush and then Drake Batherson blasted a shot into the top corner to make it a 5-3 count -- but it was pretty much all about the Oilers and their stars from that point onward.

McDavid netted his team's fourth power-play goal 42 seconds into the second period, Darnell Nurse found the twine just past the midway point and then Kailer Yamamoto tallied with 16.3 seconds remaining in the middle frame to make it an 8-3 count.

Tim Stutzle and Austin Watson scored 47 seconds apart in the ninth minute of the third period to round out the scoring.

The teams meet again on Tuesday.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Ottawa   Edmonton
Brady Tkachuk 2 Points Leon Draisaitl 6
Brady Tkachuk 1 Goals James Neal 2
Brady Tkachuk 1 Assists Leon Draisaitl 6
Drake Batherson 1 Power Play Goals James Neal 1
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Marcus Hogberg .773 Save Percentage Stuart Skinner .868
Marcus Hogberg 17 Saves Stuart Skinner 33
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Ottawa 38 5 2-5 1-5 10 27
Edmonton 31 8 4-5 3-5 10 39
Upcoming Games
  • Edmonton will play their next game at home against Ottawa. The Oilers have a W/L % of .250 after a win and .667 after a loss.
  • Ottawa will play their next game on the road against Edmonton. The Senators have a W/L % of .000 after a win and .000 after a loss.