GAME RECAP: Oilers 8, Ducks 2

EDMONTON, AB – We 8-2 break it to you, but if you weren't watching on Sunday night, you missed a good one.

The Edmonton Oilers powered themselves to an 8-2 victory over the Anaheim Ducks at Rogers Place, with Connor McDavid recording a goal and four assists, Zach Hyman contributing two goals and an assist and defenceman Darnell Nurse providing three helpers in the Blue & Orange's second straight victory on Sunday.

With his ninth career five-plus point game that surpasses Evgeni Malkin for the most among active NHL players, McDavid now has 12 points (3G, 9A) during a four-game point streak after the captain recorded four assists in Friday's 5-0 win over the Washington Capitals.

After falling behind 2-1 in the first period, the Oilers would score seven straight goals the rest of the way, including Evander Kane's 10th tally of the campaign and centre James Hamblin's second career NHL goal in the second period.

Forward Leon Draisaitl and defenceman Mattias Ekholm provided power-play markers in the final frame, and netminder Stuart Skinner made 21 saves on 23 shots to secure his sixth victory of the season.

Vincent Desnarnais added two assists and now has three points (3A) in his last two games, while both Adam Erne and Connor Brown picked up their first points as members of the Oilers with solitary assists.

The Oilers have now won two straight and will entertain the Vegas Golden Knights on Hockey Fights Cancer Night at Rogers Place on Tuesday.

"We know it's going to be a hard-fought game," Nugent-Hopkins said. "It's going to be tight-checking and there's not going to be anything easy out there, so got to prepare for that, take some positives of these last two games and keep going."

FIRST PERIOD

For what started as a mixed opening six minutes for the Blue & Orange, they certainly found their wings against the Ducks and took off offensively to build a two-goal lead heading into the first intermission.

An exciting opening 20 minutes at Rogers Place on Sunday started in favour of the visitors when Max Jones notched his first of two goals for Anaheim in the first frame by finishing off Brett Leason's stellar cross-ice pass on the rush 3:32 after puck drop.

After Evander Kane responded just over a minute later, the Ducks left-winger scored his second goal of the night to lift Anaheim back into the lead with a lucky tally that came off a spinning shot that slid along the ice and under the left pad of Skinner at 6:10 of the frame.

The Ducks had their advantage, but the Blue & Orange would begin to overwhelm their opponents with some fast-strike offence that couldn't be contained.

"They came out and had a really good push. We were down 2-1," Nurse said. "We weren't deterred by it though, and just stuck to our game and we were able to capitalize on the chances that we got.

"I think what's special about this group is that we're a resilient group, but we got to continue to play to the standard that we know we can play at and it's got to be every night."

McDavid secured his seventh goal of the season to level things up on a three-on-one opportunity where the captain elected to keep the puck and put it off the far post past netminder Lukas Dostal – beginning a stretch of seven goals in a row for the Oilers that would run until the final buzzer.

"They go up 2-1 again and we find a way to get back in the game," McDavid said. "It's something that we've been missing kind of throughout the year, so good to see a little bit of resilience."

Darnell Nurse connected some pretty passes to his teammates in the first period, with none more beautiful than the two-line feed that sent Nugent-Hopkins in on a breakaway off a set play that the defenceman called right before the faceoff.

Straight off a defensive-zone draw that McDavid won, the longest-tenured Oiler flew up the ice before Nurse threw a terrific pass onto his tape before No. 93 went low blocker like he always does to make it 3-2 for Edmonton with under seven-and-a-half minutes left before the intermission.

"That was all Nursey," Nugent-Hopkins said. "He called it right before the faceoff and I just went to the spot and he made a great pass. It definitely was all him."

"Nuge's got great speed and I thought Davo did a great job of snapping it back there and I just had some time, so may as well try it," Nurse said.

Before the period ended, McDavid would contribute his third point of the frame when he set up Hyman at the far post for his team-leading 11th goal that the winger one-timed beyond the sliding Dostal, who was under siege in the opening 20 minutes after giving up four goals on 12 shots.

Hyman ranked first in the NHL in expected goals (at all strengths) coming into tonight's game with an 11.51 iXG as per Sportsnet Stats, and is one of six players on the Oilers with 17-plus points this season (Draisaitl, McDavid, Bouchard, Hyman, Kane & Nugent-Hopkins), which is an NHL high. All six of those Oilers picked up a point this evening to add to their point totals.

"Zach's been going to the net and not getting tied up; making sure he's fighting for position; getting inside position; not allowing the defenceman to lift his stick and doing those kinds of things," Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said. "So he's been rewarded with it."

SECOND PERIOD

After scoring his first NHL goal on the road four games ago, James Hamblin now has his first in his hometown.

The Edmonton product padded the lead just past the quarter-mark of the middle frame when he cleaned up his second career tally in the League off a rebound that came after his first shot struck the leg of defenceman Cam Fowler off the rush on a one-on-one.

"He's great," McDavid said of Hamblin. "He's just Steady Eddie back there on that line and brings a lot of reliability, and chipping in with a little bit of offense is always great. Couldn't happen to a better guy."

Oilers blueliner Vincent Desharnais picked up his second assist of the night on the play, giving the 6-foot-7 rearguard three helpers in his last two contests after registering his first assist of the season in Friday's 5-0 win in Washington.

Edmonton extended their advantage to four goals 2:19 later on Hyman's 12th of the campaign, which came on a breakaway following a turnover by Alex Killorn after the Ducks winger put his attempted pass onto the tape of McDavid. The captain quickly turned it up ice to a loose Hyman, who back-handed it past Dostal to end the netminder's night after giving up six goals on 16 shots.

THIRD PERIOD

The only thing that was missing was a power-play goal. Edmonton would get two before the final buzzer.

The Oilers were able to break through with the man advantage in the third period on their third try when McDavid nutmegged a Ducks penalty-killer to pick out Draisaitl in his usual power-play spot for an unbeatable one-timer that marked his ninth goal of the campaign.

With another assist, McDavid made it five points on the night, which was the ninth instance of his career where he's produced five or more points.

Edmonton was given another man advantage in the dying minutes and converted their eighth goal of the evening when Mattias Ekholm blasted a one-timer under the left arm of John Gibson with 4:10 on the clock before time expired.

Darnell Nurse picked up his third assist as Edmonton saw out the final minutes to earn their second straight victory.

PARTING WORDS

Nugent-Hopkins on the success of his line with McDavid and Hyman in recent games:

"I think our games kind of complement each other. We all bring something a little different to the table and we just know each other so well. We can read off each other well. So it definitely has been going well for the past couple of games, but obviously, we can't stop. Just got to keep going."

Nurse on Tuesday's game against the Golden Knights on Tuesday:

"We know the point we're at right now and we're just playing hockey. I think we move on to the next game and doesn't matter who comes in here. We want to take care of our own game and see where that gets us at the end of the night. So obviously, there's going to be a lot made of it because we played them in the playoffs last year. But same token for us as a team, we're kind of at the point here where we've just got to be worried about ourselves."

Knoblauch on what he's liked from the Oilers over the last two games:

"I think a lot of things are happening right now. You can see the confidence in some of our players, and I think McDavid's probably leading that with his point production and making plays. But I think a lot of it is of our team. We're getting four lines that are playing really well. The insertion of Janmark into our lineup has helped take away some penalty-kill responsibilities from our top guys, and Brown also. Brown and Janmark have been a really good pair. Some of those other guys have really had spot duty, which they can do, but five-on-five, they're much better when they're rested. So if we need them killing, they can do it, but I think we're better off knowing those Janmarks and Browns and Fogeles and McLeods are doing more of that penalty-kill time."