EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Connor McDavid had a goal and four assists to give him nine points in two games and help the Edmonton Oilers rout the Anaheim Ducks 8-2 on Sunday night.
In a week, McDavid jumped from 108th in the NHL scoring race with 13 points into a tie for 13th with 25 points. He had four assists Friday in a 5-0 victory at Washington.
“It’s terrible to be on the losing side of an 8-2 game, but talking to (general manager) Pat Verbeek afterwards, a lot of or guys are not used to seeing McDavid or Draisaitl, and the team is fast, so we’ll learn from it,” Ducks coach Greg Cronin said. “We’re on a bit of a losing streak. We’ve got to figure out a way to get out of it.”“Confidence is obviously a big part of it,” said McDavid, Edmonton’s captain who has led the NHL in scoring the last three years and five times in his career. “Our whole team is playing better and I think that’s why you’re seeing guys start to have success.”
“It’s not just a light switch that one guy or two guys can just turn on. It takes a whole group and I thought our group has been playing better of late and you are starting to see guys have a little bit of success.”
The five-point game was the ninth of his career, the most of any active NHL player.
Zach Hyman had two goals and an assist, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Evander Kane, James Hamblin, Leon Draisaitl and Mattias Ekholm also scored and Stuart Skinner stopped 21 shots. The Oilers have won two straight to improve to 7-12-1.
“It’s been a good couple games here, but we’ve got to keep building,” Hyman said.
Max Jones scored for Anaheim. The Ducks have lost six in a row to fall to 9-12-0.
“It’s terrible to be on the losing side of an 8-2 game, but talking to (general manager) Pat Verbeek afterwards, a lot of or guys are not used to seeing McDavid or Draisaitl, and the team is fast, so we’ll learn from it,” Ducks coach Greg Cronin said. “We’re on a bit of a losing streak. We’ve got to figure out a way to get out of it.”
Anaheim starter Lukas Dostal was replaced by John Gibson in the second period after Edmonton scored six goals on 16 shots. Gibson stopped eight of 10 shots.
There were three goals on the first five shots on goal and the Oilers led 4-2 after the opening period.
The Ducks struck 3 1/2 minutes in when Jones beat Skinner.
Edmonton responded just over a minute later on its first shot. Connor Brown sent a backhand pass across to Kane for his 10th of the season. Brown’s point was his first in his 14th game with the Oilers after signing as a free agent over the summer.
The Ducks quickly regained the lead at 6:10 on Jones' second of the game.
The Oilers drew even midway through the period. McDavid elected to shoot on a 3-on-1, putting the puck off the far post for his seventh of the season. Nugent-Hopkins made it 3-2 with 7:23 left and Hyman scored with 2:10 left, and the Oilers pulled away.
UP NEXT
Ducks: At Vancouver on Tuesday night.
Oilers: Host Vegas on Tuesday night.
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The Associated Press
