Hyman, Draisaitl lead Oilers to win

Zach Hyman and Leon Draisaitl each had a goal and an assist as the Edmonton Oilers defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 5-1 on Wednesday despite the absence of star forward Connor McDavid.

Cody Ceci, Mattias Ekholm and Dylan Holloway also scored while Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Ryan McLeod had a pair of assists each for Edmonton (48-24-5), which won a third game in a row.

The Oilers hit 100 points in the standings in a third consecutive season for the second time in franchise history. They hit the century mark six times in a row from 1981-82 to 1986-87.

McDavid missed the game with a lower-body injury but is considered day-to-day. The Oilers captain is stuck at 99 assists on the season, needing only one to become just the fourth player in NHL history to hit 100.

Keegan Kolesar scored the lone goal for the Golden Knights (42-28-8), who lost a third straight.

It was the third and final meeting between the two teams which have developed bad blood over the past couple campaigns, including last year’s playoffs when the Golden Knights knocked the Oilers out in the second round. Edmonton won the first game 5-4 in a shootout at home in November, but then lost 3-1 to Vegas on the road on Feb. 6, ending their 16-game win streak â ¦ The Golden Knights had a bunch of holes in their lineup, missing the likes of Alex Pietrangelo, Mark Stone, Chandler Stephenson and Nicolas Roy â ¦ However, Vegas goalie Hill returned and started after missing seven games with a lower-body injury â ¦ Vegas was at one point sitting 20 points ahead of the Oilers in the standings, but Edmonton came into Wednesday’s contest with a seven-point lead over the Knights.

Golden Knights: Begin a season-ending fourgame homestand against the Minnesota Wild on Friday.

Oilers: Play host to the Arizona Coyotes in the second game of a four-game homestand on Friday.