Young stars shine on Monday
McDavid, Matthews lead Edmonton and Toronto to high-scoring victories
EDMONTON — Connor McDavid scored four times and added an assist as the Edmonton Oilers knocked off the top team in the NHL, defeating the Tampa Bay Lightning 6-2 on Monday.
Leon Draisaitl and Iiro Pakarinen also scored for the Oilers (23-24-4), who have gone 5-1-1 in their last seven games.
Alex Killorn and Yanni Gourde replied for the Lightning (36-14-3), who lost for just the third time during their eight-game road trip, which concluded in Edmonton.
McDavid opened the scoring just 1:48 into the first with a power-play goal. He tipped a Ryan Strome point shot past Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy.
Early in the second, Draisaitl made a nice touch pass to send in McDavid, who put the puck up high from an improbable angle.
McDavid got his third goal of the game and 20th of the season seven minutes into the third on a breakaway, prompting a blizzard of hats on the ice.
The Oilers’ captain was awarded his fourth goal with six minutes left, as he was the last player to touch the puck before Lightning forward Chris Kunitz inadvertently put it into his own net.
Meanwhile in Toronto, Auston Matthews had a pair of goals for the Maple Leafs in their 7-4 victory over the Anaheim Ducks.
William Nylander also scored twice, including the winner for the Leafs (31-20-5), with Mitch Marner, Leo Komarov and Zach Hyman, into an empty net, chipping in.
But the win might have come at a cost as starting goaltender Frederik Andersen left the game after he was struck in the head by Corey Perry’s left skate.