McDavid hat trick helps Oilers top Blackhawks in Game 2 of Cup Qualifiers

Connor McDavid scored his first postseason NHL hat trick for the Edmonton Oilers in a 6-3 win against the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Qualifiers at Rogers Place in Edmonton on Monday.

McDavid scored twice in the first period and once in the second for the Oilers, the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference, who evened the best-of-5 series 1-1.

"You never plan to score on the first shift, but we wanted to have a good start and make sure we were in their zone and we found a way to get one, and that was good," McDavid said. "Our work ethic, [we] kept it very simple. It sounds all very cliché but it's all stuff we didn't do in Game 1 (a 6-4 loss on Saturday), we did tonight and it was good."

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had three assists, and Mikko Koskinen made 23 saves for the Oilers in his first NHL postseason start.

Game 3 is in Edmonton, the Western Conference hub city, on Wednesday (10:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, NHL.TV, SN, NBCSCH). The series winner advances to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Teams that win Game 3 after a series is tied 1-1 are 21-7 (75 percent) winning a best-of-5 NHL series (14-2 when last used from 1980-86).

Patrick Kane and Slater Koekkoek each had a goal and an assist, and Corey Crawford allowed six goals on 35 shots for the Blackhawks, the No. 12 seed in the West.

"We know No. 97's going to get chances," Koekkoek said. "It's all about limiting them, making sure those chances stay outside. He got a couple of fortuitous bounces, but obviously second goal, high skill, the puck jumped on Olli (Maatta), back spun and when 97 gets a step, it's pretty hard to stop him."

WATCH: [All Blackhawks vs. Oilers highlights]

McDavid gave the Oilers a 1-0 lead 19 seconds into the first period, swatting a bouncing puck at the side of the net.

He then knocked the puck down in the neutral zone, skated past two Blackhawks defenders and lifted a shot over Crawford for a 2-0 lead at 4:05 of the first.

"Just starts in our 'D' zone, [Nugent-Hopkins] wins a puck battle, puts it out there," McDavid said. "Guy's flat-footed, [I] just tried to make a move."

McDavid has six points (four goals, two assists) through the first two games of the series.

"Those first two goals are both really strong goals, sends a really strong message to our team that he was here to play," Oilers coach Dave Tippett said. "Tonight, we came out with determination. Connor was a big part of that, showing the way early. Our whole group really played with a mindset that we weren't going to lose tonight … When we play like that, we'll give ourselves a chance every night."

McDavid completed the hat trick on the power play at 17:10 of the second when his shot deflected off Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith for a 4-3 Oilers lead.

"McDavid's obviously a focus for us, and we're not making things hard enough on them offensively, then we take penalties, and you know what happens on the power play," Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews said. "A guy like McDavid's going to make you pay. We know what we're going to get out of him every game, so we have to be better on him."

Kane made it 2-1 at 9:06 of the first, when Chicago was outshot 17-9.

"We gave them too many chances," Kane said. "They have a lot of offensive players who will capitalize. We'll try to be better defensively. This is what's fun about the playoffs, these highs and lows. We're happy we got the opportunity here, so I think we'll bounce back and have a better game in Game 3."

Tyler Ennis scored on a shot through traffic at 1:44 of the second period for a 3-1 Oilers lead.

"I think we were embarrassed after Game 1. We knew what we needed to do, and we came out played well," Ennis said. "Every guy on the team played well tonight."

Koekkoek scored from the right circle to make it 3-2 at 4:22, and Olli Maatta tied it 3-3 at 15:13.

James Neal gave the Oilers a 5-3 lead at 7:25 of the third, and Alex Chiasson made it 6-3 40 seconds later at 8:05.

"It was nice to get a couple there in one shift," Neal said. "For us, I think the first game we just threw it out. [We] came out with a whole different mindset tonight. We were ready, on our toes and ready to go from the drop of the puck tonight."

The Blackhawks were 0-for-4 on the power-play with six shots on goal.

"It was an opportunity to find our way more into the game," Chicago coach Jeremy Colliton said. "We had some chances, we didn't score. They got a couple of saves, they blocked a couple shots. We'll look at it and adjust."

Blackhawks forward Drake Caggiula did not play after he was suspended one game for an illegal check to the head against Ennis in Game 1.

NHL.com staff writer Tracey Myers contributed to this report