Ryan Nugent-Hopkins collected two goals and an assist and Connor McDavid had a goal and two assists as the Edmonton Oilers jumped out to a 4-0 lead and then held on to defeat the visiting Vegas Golden Knights 4-3 on Sunday night.
It was McDavid’s fifth three-point game in December as he extended his point streak to 10 games (12 goals, 26 points). Zach Hyman also had a goal and an assist and Leon Draisaitl added two assists for Edmonton, which moved into a tie for second place in the Pacific Division with the Golden Knights.
Connor Ingram, making his first start with the Oilers and 100th of his NHL career, made 26 saves. Ingram, making his first NHL start since Feb. 22 with Utah, was recalled from Bakersfield of the AHL on Friday when starting goalie Tristan Jarry went on injured reserve with a lower-body injury.
Tomas Hertl had a goal and two assists, Noah Hanifin had three assists, Mitch Marner had a goal and an assist and Pavel Dorofeyev also scored a goal for Vegas, which suffered its third straight loss. Carter Hart finished with 17 saves for the Golden Knights, who lost two regulation games in a row for the first time this season.
Edmonton took a 1-0 lead at the 9:11 mark of the first period when McDavid rushed down the right wing and cut around defenseman Jeremy Lauzon and put in a forehand shot between the right skate of Hart and the left post for his 14th goal in the last 14 games.
The Oilers extended the lead to 2-0 on a power-play goal by Nugent-Hopkins, who tipped in a crossing pass from Draisaitl.
Nugent-Hopkins made it 3-0 at the 2:22 mark of the second period with another power-play score, chipping in a McDavid pass at the end of a tic-tac-toe passing play with Draisaitl.
Hyman extended the lead to 4-0 midway through the period when he put in a backhand shot off a Darnell Nurse pass at the end of an odd-man rush.
Hertl started the Vegas comeback with a power play goal at the 12:59 mark, roofing a wrist shot from the edge of the left circle.
The Golden Knights cut the lead to 4-3 with two goals in the span of 1:57 early in the third period. The first one came on a power play, with Dorofeyev burying a rebound for his team-leading 15th goal, followed by Marner’s goal off Hertl’s pass from the left goal line.
–Field Level Media
