McDavid scores hat trick, reaches 400 points in Edmonton win
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) Although Connor McDavid makes amazing goals look routine, the Edmonton Oilers' star had a big milestone night on Sunday.
The All-Star center had a hat trick and became the eighth NHL player to record 400 points before his 23rd birthday in the Oilers' 6-2 win over the Anaheim Ducks.
It was the fifth hat trick of McDavid's career and his first since Feb. 18, 2018, against Colorado. He also became the 13th player in league history to reach 400 points in 306 or fewer games.
''It's good. It helps when you get a win as well,'' said McDavid, who is tied for second in the league in scoring with 30 points (11 goals, 19 assists). ''It's good to shoot a couple and they were able to go in the net.''
McDavid was one of five Oilers to have a multi-point night. Leon Draisaitl had four assists to move into the NHL scoring lead with 34 points (14 goals, 20 assists).
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins also scored twice for the Oilers, who have won four of their last six. Zack Kassian had a goal and two assists and Oscar Klefbom had a pair of assists
''Tonight we were solid all the way through and capitalized on opportunities,'' coach Dave Tippett said.
Mikko Koskinen made 31 saves for his seventh win in 10 games. Four of the saves came when Edmonton was short handed as it killed off all five Anaheim power-play opportunities.
The Oilers were 2 for 5 on the power play.
''Offense is something that hasn't come easy to us as a group, but it is starting to pick up,'' McDavid said. ''I thought the penalty killing made the difference tonight.''
Rickard Rakell and Max Jones scored for Anaheim and John Gibson stopped 25 shots. The six goals Gibson allowed tied a career-worst.
''We said they were an opportunistic team. They were. We said they were good on the power play. They were. We got outplayed,'' Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf said.
McDavid reached the 400-point milestone with 9:06 remaining in the first period when his wrist shot beat Gibson to give the Oilers a 2-1 lead.
His second goal ended up being highlight worthy as he eluded Anaheim's Jakob Silfverberg, momentarily lost his balanced and then deked Gibson to put a wrist shot past his stick side.
''Coming out of the zone, I tried to put a play on the net. I'm always looking for the pass, probably too much,'' McDavid said.
McDavid then completed the hat trick with his fourth power-play goal of the season with 6:35 remaining. The fans then pelted the Honda Center ice with hats that they received as part of a Veterans Day giveaway.
Nugent-Hopkins notched the 17th multi-goal game after coming in with only one goal. He put the Oilers on the board 88 seconds into the game when he took advantage of a turnover behind the Anaheim net and jammed it past Gibson's short side. Edmonton's James Neal pressured Anaheim's Korbinian Holzer to turn it over, allowing Nugent-Hopkins to take advantage for his second goal of the season.
He then added a power-play goal at 7:45 of the second period with a snap shot the found the upper left corner of the net.
Rakell tied it at one when he was able when he lifted a backhand over Koskinen's shoulder for his fifth of the year. Jakob Silfverberg was able to gain possession behind the net and fed it to a wide-open Rakell, who was playing in his 400th NHL game.
Jones got his first goal of the season early in the third with a wrist shot that beat Kosskinen on his stick side.
NOTES: Anaheim placed D Hampus Lindholm on injured reserve due to a lower-body injury. Lindholm, who leads the Ducks in assists with nine, missed two games last month due to the same injury. ... Rakell is the 16th player in Anaheim franchise history to appear in 400 games. ... C Sam Steel assisted on Jones' goal and has four assists in the last three games.
UP NEXT
Oilers: Travel to San Jose on Tuesday night.
Ducks: Host Detroit on Tuesday night.
---
More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP-Sports