Zach Hyman recorded his first career hat trick and added an assist, while linemates Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid combined for nine points, as the visiting Edmonton Oilers won their eighth straight over the Nashville Predators, 6-3 on Tuesday night.
Hyman, in his eighth NHL season, scored twice in the first period and added an empty-netter on his milestone evening. He has four goals and 10 assists during an eight-game point streak for Edmonton, which has won seven of 10.
Draisaitl topped the 20-goal mark for a seventh straight season, with two goals plus three assists Tuesday. McDavid posted a goal and three assists to extend his point streak to 10 games.
Cody Glass, Ryan Johansen and Dante Fabbro each scored for the Predators, who are stuck in an 0-3-1 rut. Nashville showed some offense after totaling four goals in its previous three contests, but it went 0-for-5 on the power play.
Glass’ wrister found its way through the legs of Oilers goalie Jack Campbell (29 saves) just 1:15 into the game. Edmonton, though, equalized with 11:41 remaining in the first period, when Hyman redirected Evan Bouchard’s drive past Predators netminder Kevin Lankinen (31 saves).
Hyman’s second came with 5:10 left in the opening frame, when he pushed the puck in from underneath a sprawled Fabbro. The Oilers weren’t through in the first, as Draisaitl scored his NHL-leading 13th power-play goal off a cross-slot pass from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins with 4.9 seconds remaining.
Nashville countered 3:22 into the second when Johansen delivered a one-timer from the circle to make it 3-2. However, just under a minute later, Draisaitl raced in and converted under Lankinen’s glove.
But the Predators answered as Fabbro went top shelf for his first of the season with 10:07 to play in the middle frame.
McDavid, off a pass from Draisaitl, gave Edmonton back its two-goal edge when he weaved through the Predators’ defense to finish a power-play chance with 1:05 remaining in the second.
–Field Level Media