GAME STORY: Canucks 6, Oilers 3

EDMONTON, AB - The Oilers couldn't recover from an early 4-0 deficit and dropped a 6-3 decision to the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday, with Connor McDavid collecting three more points.

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FIRST BLOOD

For the second straight game, the Canucks tallied the first goal of the night in the opening minute. On Tuesday in Vancouver it was Brock Boeser just 34 seconds after puck-drop, and two nights later in Edmonton it was Nils Hoglander at the 31-second mark. The impressive rookie winger took a feed from behind the net from J.T. Miller, made a nifty move around Jesse Puljujarvi and sniped his 10th of the season top shelf on Mikko Koskinen's glove side.

PLAY OF THE GAME

Trailing 4-0 in the opening frame with Mike Smith now in the game for Koskinen, the Oilers began their comeback attempt with a slick goal started by their relief netminder. With Edmonton on the power play, Jimmy Vesey cleared the puck into the Oilers zone and Smith darted out of his net to play it all the way back down the ice to Connor McDavid at the attacking blueline. The captain skated into the zone, dropped a pass between his legs to Leon Draisaitl and the reigning league MVP ripped a wrist shot past Thatcher Demko for his 27th of the season.

SAVE OF THE GAME

McDavid was awarded a penalty shot with 7:16 remaining in the third period but Demko made an outstanding pad save to deny the Oilers captain and keep the score 5-2 Vancouver at the time. McDavid opted for a slow, methodical approach on his attempt, eventually making a hard deke to his backhand in tight, but the Canucks goalie stuck out his left leg to record the stop. Demko made 39 saves to snap a personal six-game losing skid.

TURNING POINT

The Oilers scored the final two goals of the wild first period and took all the momentum into the middle frame despite the 4-2 deficit. The next goal would prove to be pivotal and it was scored by the Canucks as Tyler Graovac banked a shot off the back of Smith's mask and in from a sharp angle at the 9:42 mark to make it 5-2 for the visitors, putting the momentum back in their favour.

TOP PERFORMER

Travis Hamonic scored his first goal of the season, added an assist and rounded out his Gordie Howe Hat-Trick with a fight against Alex Chiasson in the second period for a solid night from the Canucks blueliner. He also played 15:24, blocked one shot and delivered two hits.

FACT CHECK

McDavid collected three more assists in the defeat to bring him up to 96 points in 52 games. He has now recorded two or more points in nine of his last 10 games, with eight goals and 17 helpers over that scorching span. Per Sportsnet Stats, Thursday was McDavid's 17th game with three or more points this season, which is the second most in a single season since 2005-06; however, all the players who recorded 18 three-point games did so during an 82-game campaign.

NEXT UP

The Oilers and Canucks will conclude their stretch of two games in Vancouver followed by two games in Edmonton on Saturday night at Rogers Place. The Oilers will then travel to Montreal on Sunday to conclude their season series against the Canadiens with games on Monday and Wednesday. Edmonton will wrap up the regular season the following Saturday at home against the Canucks.

PARTING WORDS

"I think we've done a good job of responding after games like this, responding after losses," McDavid said as the Oilers now have four games remaining before the start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. "Getting back to our game and regrouping is all we can do... We want to go into the playoffs on a high note. You don't want to limp into the playoffs. It's not like a light switch where you can turn your game on and off."
"I don't know if I've ever seen that where your first four shots go in your net, so it was a big hole to jump out of," Head Coach Dave Tippett said of falling behind 4-0 after the opening 12:22.