Connor McDavid turned the rematch into his rink, scoring twice and setting up three more as the Edmonton Oilers answered Thursday’s loss with a 6-2 win over the Utah Mammoth at Delta Center on Saturday.
Edmonton’s captain stretched his opening-season scoring run to eight games and moved atop the NHL scoring race with 23 points, made up of six goals and 17 assists. His 17 helpers through eight games match the NHL record held by Mario Lemieux in 1995-96 and Wayne Gretzky in 1986-87. McDavid also became the second-quickest player to reach 20 points in a season, behind only Lemieux, who did it in seven games.
“He’s flying,” Oilers forward Zach Hyman said. “It looks like he has found another gear, especially with the way he is finishing chances. That is a very good sign for us.”
The Oilers, now 6-1-1, had been beaten 4-2 by Utah in Edmonton on Thursday. They brought a much sharper edge into the back-to-back meeting and quickly put the Mammoth on their heels. Mike Babcock said his club understood the challenge of facing the same opponent again in its own building on a Saturday night.
“We were ready right away,” Babcock said. “When a team has beaten you, you have to raise your level in the next one, and we did. Our start was excellent. There were stretches in the third that were not as clean, but the penalty kill was outstanding.”
McDavid opened the scoring 40 seconds into the first period. Leon Draisaitl sprung him on a breakaway, and McDavid swept wide through the left circle before carrying the puck across the slot and tucking a backhand around Karel Vejmelka’s left pad. It was McDavid’s seventh goal inside the opening minute of a game, tying Mark Messier’s Oilers franchise mark.
Hyman made it 2-0 on the power play at 13:21, driving to the crease and forcing home a loose puck after McDavid’s centering pass redirected off Mikhail Sergachev’s skate. It was Hyman’s first goal of the season and came in his first appearance since opening night; an undisclosed injury had kept him out for six games.
“It was great to be back with the group,” Hyman said. “Being out is never enjoyable. Getting that first one is nice, because for some reason that first goal tends to take me a little while each season.”
Mathieu Joseph followed just 32 seconds later. Dmitri Simashev mishandled the puck after a faceoff in Edmonton’s end, allowing Joseph to break free and beat Vejmelka beneath the glove at 13:53. The Oilers had built a three-goal cushion before the first intermission and never gave Utah a route back.
Vejmelka stopped Joseph on another breakaway early in the second, but Kasperi Kapanen converted at 10:57. Evan Bouchard’s point shot changed direction off McDavid, and Kapanen collected the rebound in the slot before firing high over the goaltender’s glove. Draisaitl then capitalized on a Nate Schmidt giveaway in the Edmonton zone, taking McDavid’s pass up ice and slipping a breakaway shot through Vejmelka at 13:48 for a 5-0 lead.
That ended Vejmelka’s night after five goals on 17 shots. Sebastian Cossa entered in relief and stopped all three shots he faced. Tristan Jarry made 26 saves for Edmonton.
Utah, which arrived on a three-game winning streak, finally found some push in the third. John Marino scored 4:25 into the period, driving a slap shot from above the right circle through traffic and over Jarry’s blocker. Sergachev added another 1:35 later when his slot shot deflected upward, landed on top of the net and bounced off Jarry’s back into the goal.
Lawson Crouse said the Mammoth again paid for falling behind before finding their urgency.
“We did it to ourselves by getting down early,” Crouse said. “The third period showed what we can be when we play fast, win battles and play our identity. We always seem to respond, but that has to be there at puck drop.”
McDavid closed the scoring at 10:17, stripping Marino near center ice before finishing another breakaway for the 6-2 final. Draisaitl finished with a goal and an assist, while Vasily Podkolzin supplied two assists.
Utah coach Andre Tourigny pointed to Edmonton’s work along the walls and around loose pucks as the difference after the Mammoth could not match the Oilers’ physical engagement.
“Their compete was better than ours,” Tourigny said. “The one-on-one battles, the dirty-puck situations and the physical side were not at the level required. We knew Edmonton would respond after the previous game, and they did it for two straight nights. We did not.”
Sergachev said the game was a reminder of how quickly an opponent adjusts in consecutive meetings, particularly against a player such as McDavid.
“He is the best player in the world, and he can create something out of nothing,” Sergachev said. “But it cannot be one player trying to defend him. All five skaters have to be in the right places and stay within the system.”
Babcock praised McDavid’s complete influence, not merely the points piling up on the scoresheet. He noted McDavid’s plus-19 rating and said the club’s top player has set the tone in all areas.
“It is hard to coach a team if its best player is not leading the way,” Babcock said. “He is leading the way, takes pride in playing properly, and he enjoys doing it. We have a lot of workers around him, and the group should grow as we get healthier and deeper.”
Edmonton’s win pushed its road record to a franchise-best 5-0-0 to begin a season. The Oilers will now head home for a five-game homestand. They lead the NHL at 4.63 goals per game and have scored at least five times in four of their eight outings.
Colton Dach returned from a four-game absence and recorded three shots in 16:52 for Edmonton. Jake Walman was plus-1 in 16:34 after missing three games. Draisaitl’s goal extended his scoring streak to three games, with three goals in that span, while Bouchard extended his point streak to five games. Bouchard has two goals and six assists during the run and leads NHL defensemen with 16 points, including six goals and 10 assists. For Utah, Barrett Hayton’s five-game point streak ended at one goal and five assists.
