EDMONTON — Connor McDavid had three goals and an assist, and the Edmonton Oilers scored five straight goals to defeat the Vancouver Canucks 5-3 in the season opener for each team at Rogers Place on Wednesday.
McDavid scored the winning goal at 15:01 of the third period for his 700th NHL point. He scored on his own rebound off a rush down the right side, then into an empty net on the power play with 25 seconds left for the hat trick.
“It was just not a good start for our group, but I don’t think there was anything to that, it was the first game and maybe there was a little bit of jitters,” McDavid said. “Sometimes you have to get your legs back under you in a real game. It maybe took us a little bit of time, but we found a way to get it done.”
Video: VAN@EDM: McDavid’s gets 700th point on 2nd goal
Leon Draisaitl had a goal and two assists, Darnell Nurse had a goal and an assist, and Jack Campbell made 33 saves to win his Oilers debut. Edmonton scored on three of four power plays.
McDavid has 242 goals and 459 assists in 488 NHL games, making him the sixth-fastest to reach 700 points in NHL history.
Elias Pettersson, JT Miller and Andrei Kuzmenko scored, and Thatcher Demko made 20 saves for the Canucks. They went 1-for-8 on the power play.
“That stings a little bit, but I thought we did a lot of good things 5-on-5, and for a majority of the game, we carried the play and out-chanced them 5-on-5, but our power play let us down a little bit tonight,” captain Bo Horvat said. “We preached on having a good start and I think that’s kind of what we lacked a little bit last year, we were getting off to bad starts. I thought we played great, but when they got those power-play goals. It kind of stings a little bit, but for the most part, I thought we played really well 5-on-5.”
Video: VAN@EDM: Miller wires home a shot to double lead
Pettersson scored at 1:49 of the first period to give Vancouver a 1-0 lead. He intercepted a pass from Edmonton rookie Dylan Holloway just inside the Oilers blue line and stuffed the puck past Campbell from behind the net on his second attempt.
Miller made it 2-0 at 2:40 on a shot from the left face-off circle over Campbell’s shoulder.
“I thought we played outstanding in the first half of the game,” Canucks coach Bruce Boudreau said. “You could see them building, but in the end, if our special teams were better, I think it would have been much different. We had some opportunities; two breakaways when we had a 3-1 lead and that would have made it difficult for them to come back. Then we had some open nets at that time. If you give teams too many chances to come back, they’re going to come back, especially with those two guys [McDavid and Draisaitl]”
Kuzmenko scored his first NHL goal on the power play 39 seconds into the second period for a 3-0 lead. He took a cross-ice pass from Miller and redirected the puck past Campbell.
Video: VAN@EDM: Draisaitl gets a pass and fires home a PPG
Draisaitl scored on the power play at 4:12 on a shot from the bottom of the right circle. Moments earlier Evander Kane caught Canucks defenseman Quinn Hughes with a high stick at the side of the net, which went undetected. Hughes was cut on the play and went to the locker room following the goal, but he returned before the end of the period.
“He’s OK; they missed it, it happens,” Boudreau said. “The game is pretty quick, unfortunately by them missing the play, it ends up in the back of our net and gives them a little bit of life.”
McDavid made it 3-2 on the power play at 14:01, finishing off a three-way passing play. The goal came six seconds into a Canucks bench minor for too many men. Nurse tied it 3-3 at 19:19 short-handed, converting a pass from Draisaitl on a 3-on-1 rush.
“It wasn’t according to anyone’s script, for sure,” Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft said. “I don’t think we were sharp. I don’t think we were in sync early. We found a way to win the game, that’s a really good sign, but we can be better. We were forcing some things that might not have been there and we had to defend a lot in the first period. But I thought Jack Campbell was excellent, he allowed us to get back into the game.”
NOTES: The five players in NHL history to reach 700 points in fewer games than McDavid’s 488: Wayne Gretzky (317), Mario Lemieux (363), Peter Stastny (457), Mike Bossy (469) and Jari Kurri (483). … Canucks forward Brock Boeser had an assist and played 19:19 in his first game since sustaining a hand injury Sept. 24 that required surgery … Despite missing a portion of the second period after being cut with a high stick by Kane, Hughes still led the Canucks with 24:17 of ice time. … Edmonton and Vancouver have played each other in four straight season openers; the Oilers have won three of them … Draisaitl has points in seven consecutive season-opening games dating back to the 2016-17 season, matching Gretzky (1979-80 to 1985-86) for the longest such streak in Oilers history … McDavid has 11 NHL hat tricks.
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