McDavid scoring surge has Oilers captain back in dominant form

EDMONTON -- It seemed only a matter of time before Connor McDavid would return to his offensively dominant self.

An upper-body injury sustained against the Winnipeg Jets on Oct. 21 kept the Edmonton Oilers captain out for two games and appeared to affect him early in his return.

Yet, a five-point performance (one goal, four assists) in an 8-2 win against the Anaheim Ducks at Rogers Place on Sunday, preceded by four assists in a 5-0 victory at the Washington Capitals on Friday, has McDavid back within sight of the NHL scoring lead and the Oilers (7-12-1) winners of two straight after losing their previous three.

The Oilers center went from 108th in scoring Nov. 19 (13 points; four goals, nine assists in 14 games) to 16th by Sunday with 25 points (seven goals, 18 assists) in 18 games.

"Confidence is obviously a big part of it," McDavid said. "I think our whole team is playing better and I think that is why you are starting to see guys have success. It is not just a light switch that one or two guys can just turn on. It takes a whole group, and I thought our group has been playing better of late and you are starting to see guys have a little bit of success. And a little bit too is it's just going in, guys are making plays, and it is just going in."

Sunday was the ninth time McDavid had five points in one game, which moved him past Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin for the most of an active NHL player. The five-time Art Ross Trophy winner as the League's leading scorer (2017, 2018, 2021, 2022, 2023) has 12 points (three goals, nine assists) on a four-game point streak and was named the NHL First Star for the week ending Nov. 26.

"We know what he can do, what he's capable (of)," Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said. "I thought most year he's been playing well and sometimes the pucks just don't go in and the points don't show up quite the same. But it's definitely great to see him driving it."

McDavid was injured jumping into a rush against the Jets with 4:47 left in the third period. He grabbed his left side after crossing the Winnipeg blue line, continued the shift but headed to the bench with 4:20 remaining. He did not play through the rest of regulation and overtime.

The following day, the Oilers announced McDavid would be out 1-2 weeks, which put his participation in the 2023 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic against the Calgary Flames at Commonwealth Stadium on Oct. 29 in jeopardy.

McDavid played and had an assist in a 5-2 win. He had one assist in his next five games, leading to speculation the No. 1 pick in the 2015 NHL Draft was not 100 percent healthy despite claiming the contrary.

"He's been playing his butt off and doing everything he can since the start of the season," Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse said. "The points are starting to come the last few games but that being said, he's been working at that same clip since we got in here before camp. He's just being rewarded for it now."

Edmonton's dominance in its past two games is a direct correlation of McDavid's offensive resurgence. The Oilers lost the first three of a four-game road trip, 6-4 at the Tampa Bay Lighting, 5-3 at the Florida Panthers and 6-3 at the Carolina Hurricanes before shutting out the Capitals on Friday, their most complete game of the season. They followed it up with another strong effort against Anaheim, scoring the final seven goals of the game after falling behind 2-1 at 6:10 of the first.

"He's the leader of this team," Nurse said. "We've played some really good hockey over the last two games and over stretches before that. We've been playing a little more simple and finding ways to get leads and in the last two games, being able to hold on to them. Some good signs, a couple of good wins in a row, but we have to keep it going."

The Oilers were considered Stanley Cup contenders with the core of their roster intact and McDavid and Leon Draisaitl returning after finishing first and second in the NHL scoring race last season. McDavid had 153 points (64 goals, 89 assists) in 82 games and Draisaitl had 128 (52 goals, 76 assists) in 80 games.

Edmonton started 2-9-1 and was 31st in the NHL standings following a 3-2 loss at the San Jose Sharks on Nov. 9. Coach Jay Woodcroft and assistant Dave Mason were fired Nov. 12 and replaced by Kris Knoblauch, McDavid's junior coach at Erie in the Ontario Hockey League, and Hockey Hall of Fame defenseman Paul Coffey.

Knoblauch is 4-3-0 and McDavid has 15 points (five goals, 10 assist) in those seven games.

"I'm not sure what it was, maybe just getting away, getting on the road, maybe getting some lucky bounces," Knoblauch said. "It's amazing how much a player's confidence gets affected with just scoring a point, just getting on the score sheet. I'm not sure what turned it around. Obviously, he's an elite athlete and incredible player and he was going to figure it out, he was going to find his game, I'm not sure what was the turning point."