GAME STORY: Oilers 6, Jets 1

WINNIPEG, MB - Call it Milestone Monday.
Connor McDavid recorded his ninth career regular season hat-trick, Leon Draisaitl became Germany's all-time leading scorer, Alex Chiasson tallied his 100th career goal, Tyson Barrie played his 600th NHL game and Ryan McLeod suited up for his first as the Oilers grounded the Jets with a dominant 6-1 decision.

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FIRST BLOOD

The Oilers found the back of the net early and often on Monday, starting with the milestone marker from Chiasson at 16:22 of the opening frame as he one-timed a pass from Adam Larsson from the high slot past Connor Hellebuyck for his 100th career regular season goal. Draisaitl made yet another astounding pass to find Larsson as he was double-teamed behind the Jets net but somehow hit the defenceman with a brilliant backhand feed.

PLAY OF THE GAME

McDavid magic was in the air all night as the Oilers captain lit the lamp three times, all of them of the higlight-reel variety but none more impressive than his third at 16:30 of the middle frame. He intercepted a Jets pass just inside the Edmonton blueline, exploded through the neutral zone, burst in alone on Hellebuyck and made no less than eight moves with his lightning-quick hands before banking a forehand shot off the helpless goalie's blocker and in for his 28th goal and 81st point of the season.

SAVE OF THE GAME

Mike Smith was forced to make several key stops in the opening 10 minutes of the game, especially during a Jets power play starting at the 3:07 mark, and the Oilers netminder withstood the early flurry. He then made a series of impressive stops on Mark Scheifele in the final minutes, improving to 17-5-2 on the season with a 36-save performance.

TURNING POINT

It looked as though the teams would enter the first intermission with the Oilers leading by a lone goal, but McDavid's first marker of the night at 18:31 of the opening frame set the tone for the rest of the contest as the visitors completely took over. McDavid and Jesse Puljujarvi were both driving hard to the net as Barrie played the puck toward Hellebuyck and the captain was able to chip the loose puck over the goalie.

TOP PERFORMER

McDavid's four-point performance propelled him up to 81 on the season as he's all but locked up his third Art Ross Trophy in five years. Since the 1995-96 season, the 80-point mark has been reached in fewer games than McDavid's 46 just four times, all by Pittsburgh Penguins within a two-year span. Mario Lemieux hit 80 in just 31 games in 95-96, as well as 45 games in 1996-97, while Jaromir Jagr (37 games) and Ron Francis (44 games) also hit 80 points faster in 95-96.

FACT CHECK

Draisaitl's second period goal put him ahead of Marco Sturm for the most points scored by a German in NHL history. The one-timer tally from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins on the two-on-one rush gave the reigning league MVP 488 points in just 468 career games, passing Sturm who recorded 487 points during his 938-game career. Former Oilers forward Jochen Hecht ranks third with 463 points in 833 games.

NEXT UP

The Oilers will hang out in Winnipeg for a couple more days and take on the Jets again on Wednesday before returning home for a quick turnaround game against the Calgary Flames on Thursday for the ninth Battle of Alberta of the season. The 10th and final provincial rivalry game will then be Saturday, also at Rogers Place, before the Oilers play the Canucks in Vancouver on Monday and Tuesday.

PARTING WORDS

"I'm sure there are some players that have played very well, but from my vantage point I get to watch him every night, and I know what he does for our team," Head Coach Dave Tippett said when asked if he believes McDavid should be selected as league MVP this season. "It would be hard to imagine a player had more of an impact on their team than Connor has on ours."
"For me, getting into a rhythm is important," McDavid said of surging late in the season and Edmonton's final push toward the playoffs as he now has 12 points in his last four games.

"He's been amazing all year for us, he's been keeping us in games," Draisaitl said of Smith's performance. "He helps our D out, he helps us break out the puck a lot. It's huge to have someone back there that you trust and you can rely on. He had another great night."
"I think I played hard, used my speed pretty well and won some faceoffs," McLeod said of his NHL debut after his call-up from the Condors as he logged 14:18 with a hit, a shot and three wins on five draws. "It was nice being out there and I think I helped the team get the job done."