Connor McDavid scored twice and added three assists as the Edmonton Oilers thumped the Utah Mammoth 6-2 on Saturday night in Salt Lake City.
Leon Draisaitl tallied and added an assist. Zach Hyman, Mathieu Joseph and Kasperi Kapanen also scored for the Oilers, who have earned points in seven of their eight games.
Vasily Podkolzin chipped in two assists as the Oilers improved to 6-1-1 against the Mammoth. Tristan Jarry made 26 saves for his second win of the season.
John Marino and Mikhail Sergachev responded for Utah, which saw its three-game winning streak end.
Karel Vejmelka allowed five goals on 17 shots before being replaced by Sebastian Cossa at 13:48 of the second period. Cossa stopped three of four shots in relief.
Edmonton extended its lead to 6-2 at 10:17 of the third as McDavid stripped Marino of the puck in the neutral zone before beating Cossa.
Marino got the Mammoth on the board at 4:25 of the third, getting his slap shot from the point past a screened Jarry.
Utah pulled to 5-2 as Sergachev’s deke deflected off Edmonton defenseman Ryan Shea’s stick, off the top of the net, hit Jarry in the back and went in at 6:00 of the third.
Kapanen gave the Oilers a 4-0 lead at 10:57 of the middle frame, roofing the rebound off Evan Bouchard’s point shot.
The Oilers extended the lead to 5-0 at 13:48 of the second as McDavid sprung Draisaitl in all alone, and the Edmonton forward beat Vejmelka five-hole.
Edmonton outshot Utah 9-6 in the first and jumped out to an early 3-0 lead.
McDavid opened the scoring 40 seconds into the first period, skating around Utah defenseman Sergachev to the outside and beating Vejmelka.
The goal was McDavid’s seventh career opening-minute goal, tying him with Mark Messier for the Oilers’ franchise record.
The Oilers captain has points in all eight games this season (six goals, 17 assists).
Edmonton doubled its lead at 13:21 of the first on a power play when Hyman put home his own rebound.
Joseph made it 3-0 32 seconds later, stripping Dmitri Simashev of the puck and beating Vejmelka glove-side on a breakaway.
Saturday was the second of three meetings between the Oilers and Mammoth this season. Utah won 4-2 on Thursday in Edmonton. The teams wrap up the three-game season series on Dec. 19 in Edmonton.
–Field Level Media
