Connor McDavid recorded his seventh career regular season hat trick as the Edmonton Oilers downed the Vancouver Canucks 5-2 Thursday night at Rogers Place.
“You get those games where he just kind of takes over,” Oilers head coach Dave Tippett said of the team’s captain.
The Oilers applied a lot of pressure early and opened the scoring on a power-play goal by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins at 7:59.
With 2.5 seconds left in the first, Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl won a faceoff in the offensive zone. Edmonton forward Kailer Yamamoto’s shot was stopped by Canucks goaltender Thatcher Demko, but McDavid flipped in the rebound with 0.8 seconds left on the clock.
Vancouver defenceman Nate Schmidt beat Oilers netminder Mikko Koskinen with a long drive early in the second.
McDavid replied with a brilliant power-play rush, cutting into the slot from the right side and wiring home a wrist shot. Vancouver replied two minutes later on a redirection by Tyler Motte.
“It’s so hard to defend. I wouldn’t want to be that guy standing on the blue line and him coming a thousand miles an hour at me,” Draisaitl said.
“He just has that gift that no one else has, and with that speed, obviously he has the hands and the edges and the head to do the things that he does.”
McDavid completed the hat trick by stuffing in his own rebound with 4:52 left in the second.
“Is it weird to celebrate with no fans in the building? I don’t think so,” McDavid said.
“It’s the NHL. It’s the best league in the world and it’s a big hockey game for us, so that feeling is still there.”
Nugent-Hopkins tapped in his second goal of the night in the third, converting a feed from Yamamoto.
“That’s the position we want to be in all season long — up in the third period and being able to hold those leads,” McDavid said.
Koskinen made 38 saves for the win. The Oilers’ Stuart Skinner was the backup goalie with Mike Smith unavailable.
Draisaitl had four assists.
The Oilers, 1-1, will host Montreal Saturday and Monday.
–With files from 630 CHED’s Brenden Escott
Watch below: Some recent Global News video about the Edmonton Oilers.