GAME RECAP: Oilers 6, Rangers 2

EDMONTON, AB – Raining goals on the Rangers.

Captain Connor McDavid had two goals and an assist as one of five multi-performances from the Oilers on Saturday night, while forward Vasily Podkolzin scored his first goal in Blue & Orange in a thrilling 6-2 victory over the New York Rangers at Rogers Place.

"I think in the last five games, we've scored four or more goals in three of them," Knoblauch said. "Tonight was one of those nights we put some pucks in, which feels good, and we did it against a goalie that had been playing extremely well."

Podkolzin notched his first goal in an Oilers uniform on a half-clapper that went bar-down on Jonathan Quick with 2:26 remaining in the first period before defenceman Darnell Nurse marked his return from a three-game injury absence by scoring shorthanded with nine seconds left in the opening frame.

"He's never cheated the game," Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said of Podkolzin. "He was playing well and wasn't scoring goals. He just continues doing what he's supposed to be doing, and a lot of respect to him for that."

Winger Connor Brown recorded assists on both first-period goals from the Oilers and finished the night with two helpers along with Mattias Janmark, who set up Nurse's short-handed effort in the opening frame and contributed a secondary assist on Evan Bouchard's snipe in the middle stanza.

Leon Draisaitl tied himself for the lead in the NHL's goalscoring race with his 16th goal of the season during the middle frame, where Bouchard buried his sixth goal of the season to make it 4-0 with just over eight minutes left in the middle frame.

Connor McDavid scored two beautiful goals in the third period – one off a sublime pass by Bouchard and the other a terrific solo effort – to cap off Edmonton's scoring in the eventual 6-2 triumph on Hockey Fights Cancer Night at Rogers Place.

Goaltender Stuart Skinner made 32 saves on 34 shots, letting in two goals from Artemi Panarin in the second and third periods, but remained resilient over the full 60 minutes to pick up his seventh victory. Rangers netminder Jonathan Quick was tagged for six goals on 40 shots in the defeat.

The Oilers now sit 11-9-2 on the season as they enter a six-day break before facing Utah Hockey Club this coming Friday when they begin a three-game road trip against the NHL's expansion franchise.

FIRST PERIOD

Forward Vasily Podkolzin lifted his head to the sky in celebration of scoring his first Oilers with 2:26 remaining in a dominant first period from the Oilers, where they built a 2-0 lead on the scoreboard and a 21-6 lead in shots on the Rangers.

After he missed an opportunity near the midway mark to tap home his first in an Edmonton uniform at the end of a tic-tac-toe passing play with linemates Connor Brown and Leon Draisaitl, this goal had been a long time coming for the Russian, and the relief on his face showed it.

"It took much longer than I thought," Podkolzin said. "But sometimes, God gives you a little bit of a challenge to make you a better hockey player and a better person. So I'm happy with it, and I'll just keep working and keep going."

Following a turnover from Artemi Panarin along the boards in Edmonton's zone, the Oilers countered up the ice on a three-on-two for their second line, crossing into the Rangers' end with the puck on Draisaitl's stick before it was dropped to Podkolzin to blast a half-clapper off the crossbar and in for his first goal in a Blue & Orange uniform.

Podkolzin's first goal as an Oiler was his first tally since Mar. 23, 2023 – a span of 44 games – and made it three points in his last three contests. The marker was also his third career goal against the Rangers – one of only two teams (Rangers, Stars) he's scored against three times over his career.

"I'm thankful for opportunities and it's great to play with Leo again," Podkolzin said. "He's been feeding me a lot and I finally scored, so it means a lot to me."

While it was pure relief for Podkolzin, it was pure resiliency from Darnell Nurse, who notched a short-handed goal with nine seconds on the clock before giving two taps to his helmet to show he's no worse for wear from his upper-body injury he sustained one week ago in Toronto.

Mattias Janmark beat out former Norris Trophy-winner Adam Fox to a loose puck that had travelled all the way into the Rangers' zone after it was cleared out of their end by Connor Brown halfway through New York's first look on the power play.

Instead of forcing it toward goal, the Swedish forward rounded the New York net and picked out the incoming Darnell Nurse, who'd evaded any sort of attention from the Rangers on the opposite side of the ice before he accepted the winger's wide-open pass and beat Jonathan Quick five-hole for the 2-0 lead.

"On that short-handed goal, he made a really nice play," Knoblauch said of Janmark. "He carried that up and had the opportunity to shoot the puck, and then he had the opportunity to wrap it and held onto it before finding Nursey coming in late. But we appreciate that he does all those little things. We talked about Pods, but Janny's another guy that's been doing those things regularly."

The short-handed goal moved Nurse into sole possession of second place for the most short-handed goals all-time among Oilers defencemen with five, trailing only his Assistant Coach and Hall of Famer Paul Coffey (15).

Nurse missed the last three contests for the Oilers from a hit he received from Ryan Reaves last Saturday that resulted in the Maple Leafs' forward being suspended for five games.

"I pushed a little bit to be in, but with that said, it's the brain," Nurse said. "With head injuries and stuff, you're not going to go out there unless you feel 100 percent that you're capable of going out and doing your job. You don't want to put yourself in a situation where you're setting yourself back months, so I think we did a really good job of taking care of it. There's a lot of work that went into it, but I felt very comfortable to go out there and just play."

Connor Brown recorded his second assist of the period, and in games where he's recorded two points, his teams are 33-3-4.

Edmonton killed off three penalties on Saturday night to improve to a perfect 16-for-16 over their last six games.

SECOND PERIOD

After Connor McDavid struck the post on an odd-man rush with the power play just 2:30 into the middle frame, the captain elected to pass to Leon Draisaitl on a two-on-one before the period's midway mark – leading to the German lifting the Oilers into a 3-0 lead over the Rangers.

It looked like McDavid would shoot a similar shot to the one that resulted in his 1,000th career point a handful of games ago, but this time, the captain put it right back onto the tape of Draisaitl for him to score into a wide-open net with Jonathan Quick completely pulled out of position.

The German's 16th goal of the season lifted him back into a tie for first place in the NHL's goalscoring race with Florida's Sam Reinhart.

Three minutes later, there was nothing 50-50 about Evan Bouchard's perfect shot like the defenceman was this morning as a game-time decision.

"Here's a guy who we weren't sure was going to play tonight," Knoblauch said. "He was sick and couldn't skate yesterday and didn't skate this morning. He just tried to keep up all his energy for tonight's game and he played a really good game."

Janmark collected his second assist of the night when he exchanged passes with Adam Henrique at the top of the left circle before finding Bouchard wide open in the slot to snipe his sixth goal of the season top shelf on Quick while Henrique provided the screen in front.

All six of Bouchard's goals this season have come at even strength, which leads all NHL defenceman.

The Rangers would get on the board through Artemi Panarin with less than five minutes left in the second period, but the Oilers' efforts in the middle frame helped build themselves a 4-1 lead through 40 minutes of play on Saturday night.

THIRD PERIOD

It was a night where the Oilers were intent on only scoring bangers against the Rangers.

There was something special about every one of the Blue & Orange's first four goals, and it would be nothing different after McDavid added two more terrific tallies in the final frame to turn Saturday night's contest at Rogers Place into a rout.

Forward Kasperi Kapanen collected his first point as an Oiler with the secondary assist on McDavid's easy finish into a wide-open New York net after Bouchard picked out his captain with a sublime pass to the back post. McDavid pointed to his blueliner in appreciation for setting up his goal that made it 5-1 with 5:49 gone in the final frame.

McDavid was back at it just under four minutes later on an odd-man rush with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, picking up a loose puck with speed inside Edmonton's own zone and slowing down as he came into the Rangers' end before patiently waiting for Jonathan Quick to leave him an opening to backhand home his second of the game with 10:23 left in the third period.

Troy Stecher picked up the lone helper on McDavid's 11th goal of the year.

Artemi Panarin added a late consolation for the Rangers, but the Oilers had already inflicted the damage to come away with the 6-2 victory heading into a six-day break between now and their next competitive action (Friday vs. Utah Hockey Club).

"I think there's a lot to build off of and it's one of those foundation games that I think can build you some momentum if you take it and use it the right way," Nurse said. "You want to be good on home ice, especially against good teams, and we did that tonight."