Oilers ease past Golden Knights in Game 2, even Western 2nd Round

LAS VEGAS-- Leon Draisaitl scored twice in a four-goal first period for the Edmonton Oilers in a 5-1 victory against the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 2 of the Western Conference Second Round at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday.

Draisaitl, who scored four goals in Edmonton's 6-4 loss in Game 1 on Wednesday, is the first player in Stanley Cup Playoff history to score six goals through the first two games of a series.

"He's playing at an unbelievable level. I'm not sure why anyone would be surprised at this point," Oilers captain Connor McDavid said. "He's the best player in the world a lot of nights. He's shown that on a regular basis."

Game 3 of the best-of-7 series will be in Edmonton on Monday.

McDavid had two goals and an assist, Evan Bouchard had a goal and an assist and Zach Hyman had three assists for Edmonton, the No. 2 seed from the Pacific Division. Stuart Skinner made 30 saves.

"We were fast. We were physical. We got on top of them early and asserted the game we wanted to play tonight," Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft said. "We had our skating legs, our sea legs, right off the bat. Right from the very first shift. We were able to come at their team in waves. … All that said, that's one game. They have one on the board, we have one on the board."

Ivan Barbashev scored for Vegas, the top seed in the Western Conference. Laurent Brossoit made 27 saves before being replaced at the start of the third period by Adin Hill, who made four saves in relief.

"They were way better than us in the first period," Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said. "You watch the game, they were better than us early on. They separated from us quickly in the first period by converting on those power-play opportunities. … Credit them. They were better than us, hungrier than us. They converted better. That's it."

RELATED: [Video: EDM@VGK, Gm2: Draisaitl puts Oilers up 1-0 with a PPG]

Draisaitl gave the Oilers a 1-0 lead at 2:21 of the first period with a power-play goal. He lifted in a rebound near the left post after Bouchard's shot from the point was redirected by McDavid.

Bouchard scored another power-play goal on a slap shot from the point to make it 2-1 at 7:01.

"It's big (to win the special teams battle)," Draisaitl said. "It's really good in the playoffs. Special teams can win you games. Obviously, we rely on that partly, but we're also working for our power-play opportunities, right? We're a hard team to defend. When we do get the chance we try to capitalize."

McDavid pushed it to 3-0 with a short-handed goal at 11:11. He poked the puck away from Shea Theodore at the blue line before skating in and scoring five-hole on Brossoit.

Draisaitl made it 4-0 at 16:17, shooting into an open net after Brossoit was knocked down by Hyman, who was pushed into the goalie by Nicolas Hague. Cassidy challenged the play for goaltender interference, but the call stood after a video review.

McDavid extended the lead to 5-0 at 11:43 of the second period. He scored a power-play goal from below the left circle when he banked in a shot from a sharp angle off the pad of Brossoit.

Edmonton is 14-for-25 (56 percent) on the power play in the playoffs after setting an NHL record on the man-advantage during the regular season (32.4 percent).

"It's a big part of our team identity," Woodcroft said. "When teams are undisciplined and run around, it's one of the ways we can make them pay."

Barbashev batted in a pass from Mark Stone at 1:36 of the third period for the 5-1 final.

"Not a great night for us right?" Stone said. "But the series is 1-1. I don't think anyone in this locker room thought we were going to sweep the Edmonton Oilers. So it's a 1-1 series. We'll regroup, come back ready to go on Monday night."

NOTES: Bouchard has 12 power-play points (three goals, nine assists), the most by an Oilers defenseman in a single postseason. He has a point in all eight games this postseason (three goals, 11 assists). … Draisaitl extended his goal streak to five games. … McDavid extended his multipoint streak to six games (five goals, nine assists) for the second time in his playoff career. He is the first player in NHL history to record multiple such streaks in the postseason.