Draisaitl scores 50th goal, Oilers blank Ducks to clinch playoff berth

EDMONTON -- Leon Draisaitl scored a hat trick to reach 50 goals, and the Edmonton Oilers clinched a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a 6-0 win against the Anaheim Ducks at Rogers Place on Saturday.

"It was a good night. There were lots of great plays by the guys around me, looking for me," Draisaitl said. "I am proud and very fortunate to have done it. I was probably being a little too selfish in the third [period], I was shooting it from everywhere. I think that is all right, usually I tend to overpass it so, for once in my life, it is OK."
Connor McDavid and Zach Hyman each had a goal and assist for the Oilers (45-23-9), who have won four straight and nine of their past 10. Jack Campbell made 36 saves for his first shutout with Edmonton.
The Oilers remained two points behind the Vegas Golden Knights, who have a game in hand, for first in the Pacific Division. Vegas defeated the Minnesota Wild 4-1 on Saturday.
John Gibson allowed five goals on 36 shots before leaving with a lower-body injury at 6:34 of the third period for the Ducks (24-43-10), who have lost seven straight. Lukas Dostal made eight saves in relief.
"Edmonton has a top-notch, explosive team," Anaheim coach Dallas Eakins said. "I thought we had a really good first period, maybe one of our best periods of the year. But I think the discrepancy in finish on the two teams -- they're loaded with guys that can finish and we're challenged with it. We just couldn't get anything past their goaltender tonight."

Hyman gave the Oilers a 1-0 lead at 17:56 of the first period, tipping in a pass from Mattias Ekholm.
Draisaitl made it 2-0 at 2:03 of the second period when he lifted in a backhand over the shoulder of Gibson after receiving a cross-ice pass from Evander Kane.
"You don't see it every day that someone scores 50 and gets 100 points pretty much every year they have been in the League. It's really, really impressive," McDavid said. "I can't say enough good things about [Draisaitl]. He has been on a real tear and tonight was no different.
"It's been amazing to watch the evolution over the course of our careers. He went from being a pass-first kind of guy to a little more of a shooter, to obviously being both. He can beat you either way."

Nurse extended it to 3-0 at 5:05, getting to a loose puck in the high slot and snapping a shot through Gibson.
Draisaitl then made it 4-0 at 11:44 when he collected a rebound at the side of the net for a power-play goal.
"I used to be pretty easy to read entering the zone, or wherever I was, it was always pass," Draisaitl said. "Coming here and being able to play with some amazing passers -- Connor, [Ryan Nugent-Hopkins] is a very underrated passer -- you have to learn to get away from the puck sometimes and find that part of your game as well.
"Those two guys are just so good at passing the puck, it is crazy. They make my life pretty easy at times."
McDavid scored his 62nd goal at 4:25 of the third period to make it 5-0. He circled the net before picking the top corner on Gibson.
"We have to stick together as a team, through the ups and downs no matter what, and it seemed to get away from us in the third period," Ducks forward Max Jones said. "I thought we played well in the first period, but we need to move through the ups and downs of the game better, sticking together. It seems like we kind of lost the team values that we should hold through the entire game."

Draisaitl completed the hat trick on a short-handed rush at 15:01 for the 6-0 final. It is the third time in his NHL career he has scored at least 50 goals.
"I was looking at a list of the top goal-scorers of the last five years, and his name is at the top of it, with some really good players, really good shooters, dangerous shooters," Edmonton coach Jay Woodcroft said. "For him to be the best passer and have the ability to put it in the net like he does, he's a very dangerous player, and we're thankful he's on our team."
NOTES: Draisaitl is the first Oilers player to score 30 power-play goals in a season and the fifth in NHL history, joining Tim Kerr (34), Dave Andreychuk (32), Mario Lemieux (31), and Joe Nieuwendyk (31). … Edmonton is the first team to have two 50-goal scorers since Lemieux (69) and Jaromir Jagr (62) did it with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1995-96.