- Connor McDavid had a goal and three assists in his 800th NHL game
- The Oilers beat the Kings 4-1 to sweep their California trip and improve to 5-0-1
- Read below for what McDavid said about his line and Devon Levi
Connor McDavid picked the right night to play his 800th NHL game.
The Oilers captain finished with a goal and three assists in a 4-1 win over the Kings on Tuesday, pushing Edmonton to 5-0-1 and a sweep of its three-game California road trip. McDavid now has 17 points (four goals, 13 assists) through six games.
He had a hand in all three first-period goals. McDavid set up Leon Draisaitl for the opener at 7:16, then fed Vasily Podkolzin on a power play goal exactly a minute later. He finished the period himself, gloving a long stretch pass from Ty Emberson and beating Darcy Kuemper on a breakaway at 15:48.
Watch the McDavid and Draisaitl connection on the first goal:
McDavid explained how that play developed after the game. “We were kind of hemmed in there, and then got the change, and so I’m always going to look for our defense to high flip it and just go for it,” he said. “Worked out well.”
He was also asked about playing next to Draisaitl at even strength, something the Oilers rarely do for this long. McDavid said he is enjoying it.
“Leon’s one of the best players in the world,” McDavid said. “To get a nice string of games together to kind of build a little bit of chemistry and work on things, it’s been a lot of fun.”
The McDavid, Draisaitl and Podkolzin line has 37 points (15 goals, 22 assists) so far. Podkolzin added an empty-netter for his second of the night and has seven goals this season, one off the league lead.
McDavid also talked about goaltender Devon Levi, who stopped 39 of 40 shots for his fourth straight win. Check out what he said:
Levi had plenty of work. Los Angeles outshot Edmonton 40-16 and has now lost five in a row at 0-3-2. Head coach Mike Babcock kept it simple afterward, saying he didn’t think the Oilers were fantastic but that “McDavid and the big boys were great.”
Edmonton is also 4-0-0 on the road. It is the same group that got Evan Bouchard off to a league-best goal pace in the first week, and Bouchard added two assists in this one.
Edmonton is the only team in the NHL without a regulation loss.
