SAN JOSE, Calif. — Connor McDavid dominated the way he usually does and got plenty of help from his Edmonton teammates.
McDavid had a goal and two assists for his third straight game with at least three points, Leon Draisaitl extended his point streak to 13 games and the Oilers snapped the San Jose Sharks' six-game winning streak with a 5-2 victory Tuesday night.
“We were looking for a real good effort to start this road trip and that's exactly what we got,” coach Dave Tippett said. “Everybody contributed. We're looking for scoring all through our lineup and you get a game like this.”
McDavid assisted on goals by Zack Kassian and James Neal to stake Edmonton to a 4-1 lead after two periods and then capped another big night with an insurance goal in the third to get the Oilers off to a strong start on their five-game trip. McDavid became the first Edmonton player with three or more points in three consecutive games since Mark Messier in January 1990.
Draisaitl assisted on that last goal, giving him 28 points during his current streak.
Markus Granlund scored his first of the season, Jujhar Khaira also had a goal and Mikko Koskinen made 33 saves for Edmonton.
“Hopefully this can be a springboard for us,”
Kevin Labanc and Barclay Goodrow scored for the Sharks, who had been playing their best hockey of the season following a five-game skid. Martin Jones made 24 saves.
“I think it’s a wakeup call for us right now,” captain Logan Couture said. “You win six in a row and winning kind of masks when you’re not playing your best, but you find a way to win. I think the last couple games, that’s the way the games have gone. We haven’t played our game and we found a way to win. Tonight I think we got what we deserved, a loss.”
The Oilers began their trip on a good note, getting early goals from Granlund off a nice cross-ice feed from Klefbom and Kassian on a play that needed replay review. The referees initially ruled Mario Ferraro cleared Kassian's shot that trickled through Jones off the goal line. But the situation room in Toronto buzzed in at the next stoppage, ruling the puck crossed the goal line.
The Sharks got back into it thanks to a fortunate bounce as Couture's shot was stopped by Koskinen but the rebound deflected off Labanc, hit Koskinen in the back and rolled into the net.
San Jose put on heavy pressure after that and had an 18-9 edge in shots but went down by two with 14.6 seconds left in the period when Khaira beat Jones with a shot through a screen from the point for his third goal in two games.
“I thought their guy made some big saves in the first or we could have had two or three, too,” Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said. “That’s a back breaker that one with 15 seconds left.”
The Oilers tightened things up significantly in the second and added to the lead when Neal redirected a pass from McDavid past Jones for his eighth power-play goal of the season.
Koskinen preserved the three-goal lead by stopping Goodrow on a partial breakaway with San Jose short-handed in the final minute of the second period.
NOTES: The power-play goal by Neal was just the second the Sharks have allowed at home all season. ... Oilers D Adam Larsson is on the road trip and could return Thursday at Los Angeles for the first time since getting hurt blocking a shot in the season opener.
UP NEXT
Oilers: Visit the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday night.
Sharks: At the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday night.
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Josh Dubow, The Associated Press
