Connor McDavid showcased his brilliance with a goal and four assists, propelling the Edmonton Oilers to a 7-2 win over the Seattle Kraken on Friday night.
Zach Hyman and Klim Kostin each found the net twice as Edmonton secured its third win in four games. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins contributed four assists, and Darnell Nurse recorded a goal and an assist.
McDavid extended his point streak to 17 games, tying his career high. During this stretch, he has amassed 16 goals and 21 assists.
“He’s the best player in the world for a reason,” said Seattle’s Adam Larsson, a former teammate of McDavid in Edmonton. “He’s hard to stop. We can do a lot better job stopping him, but when you give him time and space, he will make you look stupid most of the time.”
Brandon Tanev and Daniel Sprong scored for Seattle, which suffered its third consecutive loss.
Edmonton took command with four goals in the first 10 minutes of the game.
Hyman scored with a power-play goal at 2:44, his 16th of the season. Kostin added another at 3:16, followed by Nurse slipping a shot past Philipp Grubauer at 3:55. This sequence marked the second-fastest trio of goals to start a game in the NHL this season, only behind Buffalo at 2:13.
Martin Jones replaced Grubauer, but the Oilers continued their onslaught, with Jesse Puljujarvi scoring his third goal of the season at 9:58.
McDavid notched three assists in the first period, with Edmonton’s four goals setting a franchise record for most goals allowed by the Kraken in the first period.
Sprong got Seattle on the board 1:50 into the second period with his 11th-season goal. However, Kostin and Hyman responded with goals in the middle frame, with McDavid assisting on Hyman’s 17th goal for his 40th assist of the season.
McDavid sealed the win by scoring his NHL-leading 32nd goal 10:43 into the third period.
“I’m always working on my game,” McDavid said. “I’m just trying to get better; some nights it goes well, and some nights it doesn’t. That’s the nature of this league, and I’m just trying to help the team win. That’s what I’m paid to do.”
Earlier this season, McDavid became only the fifth NHL player in the past 25 years to score 30 goals in 35 or fewer games.
“What he is doing, I think we should all realize, is quite special,” Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft said. “It’s the best league in the world, and he is off to a career year. He is doing something the league hasn’t seen for a long time. So that is special.”
Seattle’s past three losses have all come against Pacific Division rivals.
“The competitiveness, that element, and that willingness to check and push through hard situations is really important. We weren’t very good there tonight,” Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said. “So that’s where, you know, we have to take a close hard look at ourselves. All of us. We’re all in this thing together.”
WORTH NOTING
Edmonton played without center Leon Draisaitl, who was scratched with an unspecified injury. Draisaitl has 21 goals and 36 assists in 36 games this season. Adam Larsson picked up an assist on Tanev’s goal 7:33 into the second period, marking his career-best fifth straight game with an assist.
UP NEXT
Oilers: Host Winnipeg on Saturday night.
Kraken: Host the New York Islanders on Sunday.
