Young stars shine on Monday
McDavid, Matthews lead Edmonton and Toronto to high-scoring victories
EDMONTON — Connor McDavid clearly hasn’t given up on winning his second consecutive MVP award.
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.
He now has 17 goals and 39 assists with 11 power-play points, closing in on his 100-point total from last season.
“He just has that ability to take a game over,” said Oilers linemate Leon Draisaitl. “There are very, very few players in this world who can do something like that.
“It seems like he is from another planet. It is not fair, really.”
Draisaitl and Iiro Pakarinen also scored for the Oilers (23-24-4), who have gone 5-1-1 in their last seven games.
“Any time the No. 1 team rolls into your building, you need to be up for it and ready to go,” McDavid said. “We have laid a few eggs against teams from the East Coast and we needed to get one against an East team.
“It feels good. The power play has been under the microscope for so long now. To be able to score a couple on the power play feels really good.”
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 rare power-play goal. He deftly tipped a Ryan Strome point shot past Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy. Edmonton was 0-for-17 in their previous eight games with the man advantage.
“He’s one of the best, if not the best for a reason,” said Lightning captain Steven Stamkos. “He’s got another gear that no one has in this league, so when he gets skating, it’s tough.
“It’s also tough when they get a power play and his first shift of the game, they score. Then they start to feel really confident.”
It was the first of two meetings between the two teams this season. Edmonton was the only team that Tampa Bay had yet to face this season.
Tampa tied the game up midway through the first period when Darnell Nurse was unable to clear a bouncing puck in front and Killorn scored on Cam Talbot.
The Oilers got another power-play goal with three minutes to play in the first, as Strome sent a pass through the crease that was sent home by Draisaitl.
Early in the second, Draisaitl made a nice touch pass to send in McDavid, who put the puck up high from an improbable angle.
The Oilers extended their lead with seven minutes to play in the middle period as Pakarinen elected to shoot on a 2-on-1, scoring his first of the season.
Louis Domingue came in to start the third in the Tampa Bay net, and the Lightning responded with a quick power-play goal, with Gourde chipping in his own rebound for his 19th.
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 earned his fourth goal with six minutes left, as he was the last Edmonton player to touch the puck before Lightning forward Chris Kunitz inadvertently put it into his own net.
Edmonton embarks on a three-game road trip, starting in Los Angeles on Wednesday.
Tampa Bay returns home to face the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday.
MAPLE LEAFS 7, DUCKS 4
TORONTO — William Nylander scored twice, including the winner, as the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Anaheim Ducks 7-4 at Air Canada Centre on Monday.
Auston Matthews also had a pair of goals 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 at the 6:15 of the second period after he was struck in the head by Corey Perry’s left skate. He made 25 saves on 28 shots before being replaced by backup Curtis McElhinney, who improved to 6-4 this season with 16 saves on 17 shots.
“I think he’s fine I was just talking to him,” Leafs coach Mike Babcock said of Andersen following the game. “We’ll see what goes on tomorrow.”
The Leafs provided no further update on Andersen’s status and he was not made available to media.
The high-scoring affair was redemption for a Leafs team that struggled against the Boston Bruins on Saturday in what could have been a potential first-round playoff preview.
The line of Nylander, Matthews and Hyman combined for five goals and three assists.
“Our line wasn’t happy with our performance last Saturday, so it was a good start for us,” said Matthews, who leads the Leafs with 25 goals this season.
The Leafs’ high-flying offence proved too much for a Ducks team that couldn’t contain Toronto’s young stars.
“We made some mistakes defensively where we gave them breakaways,” said Anaheim captain Ryan Getzlaf, “those are breakdowns that we just can’t have . . . those are the things we are doing that are hurting us.”
Nylander scored the second of his two goals on a breakaway. His wrist shot beat Ryan Miller at 3:28 of the third period and was the eventual winner.
The Leafs opened the scoring in the first period when Matthews skated to Anaheim’s net unabated. He then wrapped the puck around the goal past Miller at 6:32.
The Ducks (25-19-10) responded early in the second period. Rickard Rakell centered a pass to Getzlaf in front of the net and his shot beat Andersen 43 seconds into the middle frame.
Nylander and Rakell traded goals for their respective teams before Ondrej Kase scored at 8:23 while on the power play to give Anaheim a 3-2 lead.
Toronto responded with a power-play goal of its own. Marner’s snap shot put Toronto level with Anaheim 3-3 at 15:28.
Komarov also scored in the second when he tipped Jake Gardiner’s shot past Miller to give Toronto at 4-3 lead at 17:40.
Rakell scored his second goal of the game in the third period when he found an opening above McElhinney’s glove at 2:07 to tie the game 4-4.
Matthews scored his second goal of the game at 16:49. Hyman added an empty-net goal at 19:06.
Andersen’s goaltending this season has helped Toronto hold down a playoff berth for most of the season.
With a 25-15-4 record along with a .921 save percentage, a lengthy absence by Andersen could potentially diminish the 17-point cushion that the Leafs currently hold over their divisional rivals — the Florida Panthers, Detroit Red Wings and Montreal Canadiens.
“I didn’t think I hit him on the original play, but obviously I did,” said Perry, who assisted on all four Anaheim goals. “I tried to move away.”