Four players recorded three points in the Edmonton Oilers’ 7-1 rout of the visiting Utah Hockey Club on Tuesday night.
The Oilers (40-24-4, 84 points) are on a three-game winning streak and sit two points behind the Vegas Golden Knights for first place in the Pacific Division.
Zach Hyman had two goals and an assist while Connor McDavid, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Mattias Ekholm each had a goal and two assists. Vasily Podkolzin and Viktor Arvidsson scored Edmonton’s other goals.
Calvin Pickard stopped 29 of 30 shots to earn his 17th win in 26 games this season.
Ekholm matched a personal high with his sixth career three-point game. It was a big return for the defenseman, who missed the Oilers’ previous six games due to illness and an undisclosed injury.
McDavid has 18 points (four goals, 14 assists) over a 12-game points streak.
Sean Durzi had the only goal for the Utah Hockey Club (30-27-11, 71 points), who suffered the largest margin of defeat of their inaugural season.
Jaxson Stauber stopped 24 of 28 shots in a relief outing. Starting goalie Karel Vejmelka allowed three goals on 14 shots and didn’t return after the second intermission.
Utah’s tough night began when its power-play unit allowed a short-handed goal to Nugent-Hopkins 12:28 into the first period. The Oilers struck again at the 15:14 mark, when Nugent-Hopkins and McDavid combined on a slick passing play to set up Hyman’s goal.
An even nicer passing sequence led to McDavid’s late strike just four seconds before the first intermission. Ekholm sent the puck from just past his own net to Evan Bouchard near center ice, and Bouchard quickly dropped a pass to a streaking McDavid, who beat Vejmelka with a tremendous backhanded shot.
Hyman’s deflected goal 7:41 into the second period continued Edmonton’s offensive surge. At the 9:53 mark, Podkolzin ended his 23-game goal drought by burying a shot from the circle.
Durzi put Utah on the board at 16:26 of the second period, but the comeback hopes didn’t last long. Ekholm scored 33 seconds into the third period and Arvidsson collected another goal just over two minutes later.
–Field Level Media
