McDavid has 3 points, Oilers score 6 in win against Ducks
Ekholm gets goal, 2 assists to help Edmonton gain in Pacific
By
Gerry Moddejonge
NHL.com Independent Correspondent
McDavid has 19 points (four goals, 15 assists) during his streak and temporarily moved into the NHL scoring lead with 125 points (27 goals, 96 assists), one ahead of Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning and two ahead of Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche, who each played later Saturday. McDavid fell to third behind MacKinnon (127 points; 47 goals, 80 assists), who had two goals and two assists in a 7-4 win against the Nashville Predators, and Kucherov (126 points; 42 goals, 84 assists), who had two assists in a 4-1 victory against the New York Islanders.
“It's nice, I guess. A position I've been in many times before,” McDavid, the Edmonton captain, said of being first in points. He has won the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL points leader the past three seasons and five times overall. “We're playing for things bigger than that, making sure our game is in order, and we're still playing for positioning.
“There are 10 games left. You never know what could happen.”
Mattias Ekholm had a goal and two assists, and Leon Draisaitl, Evan Bouchard and Vincent Desharnais each had two assists for the Oilers (45-23-4), who won their third in a row. Calvin Pickard made 22 saves.
The Oilers moved within four points of the Vancouver Canucks for first place in the Pacific Division and remained four points ahead of the Vegas Golden Knights for third. Vegas defeated the Minnesota Wild 2-1 in overtime Saturday.
The Oilers have played one fewer game than the Canucks and two fewer than the Golden Knights.
Alex Killorn scored, and John Gibson made 31 saves for the Ducks (24-46-4), who have lost four in a row and 11 of 12. They have been eliminated from Stanley Cup Playoff contention.
“Not good enough,” Killorn said. “Tough, they’re a really good team. We didn’t bring it tonight.”
Adam Henrique put the Oilers ahead 1-0 at 3:47 of the first period, putting in his own rebound in the slot after being set up with a drop pass by Draisaitl.
McDavid made it 2-0 at 14:15, picking up a loose puck in the neutral zone before driving past Anaheim forward Bo Groulx to the net and lifting the puck past the blocker of Gibson.
“You know what's going on out there, you know who you're going up against,” McDavid said. “I definitely knew that was a forward and he might be in a little bit of an uncomfortable situation for him.
“I just tried to take one.”
ANA@EDM: McDavid scores a beautiful breakaway goal in 1st
Ekholm pushed it to 3-0 at 16:16, scoring on a slap shot from the point past Gibson’s glove off a pass from Sam Carrick.
“We started out a little slow, measured and they got a couple quality opportunities and they put them in the net,” Ducks coach Greg Cronin said. “It’s really hard to start out a game on the road down 3-zip.
“We dug a hole and we had some chances to get back in. Frankie [Vatrano] had a wide-open net, hit a pipe, but we just weren’t good enough tonight.”
Carrick and Henrique were playing against the Ducks for the first time since being acquired from Anaheim on March 6 in a three-way trade also involving the Tampa Bay Lightning.
“It’s always one you look forward to, and it was nice to get one early in the game and kind of settle in and see those guys,” Henrique said. “That’s a big two points for us. Down the stretch, you’ve got to have it.
“We tried to jump on it early and take control of the game.”
McDavid made it 4-0 on the power play at 9:28 of the second period. He took a centering pass in the slot from Draisaitl and snapped it past Gibson’s glove.
“He’s so dynamic and we saw that tonight,” Killorn said of McDavid. “I don’t know if he tied it tonight or whatever, but it seems like when he’s scoring like that and when he’s trying to chase down the League lead in points, it’s tough because he’s playing so well.”
Warren Foegele pushed the lead to 5-0 on a breakaway at 15:57, scoring through the five-hole off Ekholm’s pass up the middle.
Zach Hyman extended it to 6-0 at 7:06 of the third period with his team-leading 52nd goal of the season. He scored on a one-timer from the left circle off a McDavid pass.
Killorn cut it to 6-1 with a power-play goal at 15:42, tipping a point shot by Cam Fowler.
Edmonton defenseman Brett Kulak left the game in the first period after taking a puck off the helmet during his first shift.
"I saw him after the game and he'll obviously be looked at again tonight and tomorrow,” Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said. “But he says he feels well and that's good news for him and us.
“He'll be going on the road trip (that continues at Vancouver on Sunday)."
NOTES: McDavid has scored 115 points (27 goals, 88 assists) in the past 59 games since Knoblauch replaced Jay Woodcroft as coach Nov. 12. He was tied for 107th in the NHL with 10 points (two goals, eight assists in 11 games) on that date. … Ekholm was a game-high plus-5, improving to plus-40 on the season. … Draisaitl extended his point streak to seven games (12 points; five goals, seven assists), and Ekholm pushed his to four (six points; one goal, five assists).
