McDavid nets 6 assists, Oilers clip Red Wings 8-4 – Winnipeg Free Press

EDMONTON — Connor McDavid wanted to lend a helping hand Tuesday.

McDavid recorded a career-high six assists as the Edmonton Oilers continued their strong run at home with an 8-4 victory over the Detroit Red Wings.

“It's unbelievable. “You can only dream of a game like this,” Oilers forward Dylan Holloway said. “It's really cool. It's fun to watch. He deserves it too. He brings it every day in practice, he brings it every game. He had a great game tonight.”

McDavid retired from the game, although only two players in NHL history have managed to record seven assists – Wayne Gretzky (three times) and Billy Taylor Sr. (for Detroit in 1947).

“I play with good players, of course tonight was good,” McDavid said.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had two goals, Leon Draisaitl, Cody Ceci, Evan Bouchard, Holloway, Zach Hyman and Evander Kane also scored for the Oilers (31-17-1), who won their eighth straight game at home and lost one. missed the goal. They are just shy of tying their franchise record with nine home wins, accomplished twice in 2017 and 2022.

Edmonton is 26-5-0 in their last 31 games.

Alex DeBrincat, Joe Veleno, Patrick Kane and David Perron responded for the Red Wings (27-19-6), who have lost two of their last three but are 10-3-2 since Jan. 1.

“We lost it in the third, which is really disappointing,” Detroit quarterback Moritz Seider said. “Up until now I thought we had more chances, we were progressing and at the end of the day it's a devastating result, a lot of mistakes we have to correct.

“It's still a long way to go and hopefully we can flip the switch here quickly.”

Edmonton opened the scoring nine minutes into the game as Draisaitl skated around the zone, took a shot in traffic at the top of the circle and beat Red Wings goaltender Wil Husso for his 25th of the season. Huso was injured in the game and was replaced by Alex Lyon.

The Oilers took the lead a couple of minutes later when Ceci's shot from the blue line beat defenseman Moritz Seider and Lyon. It was Ceci's first goal of the season and his first since October 15, 2022, a 127-game stretch that was the longest active goalless streak in the NHL.

McDavid had an assist to extend his home run hitting streak to 19 games.

Detroit fought back with a power-play goal with 4:21 left in the first period, as Patrick Kane's long cross-court pass allowed DeBrincat to beat Oilers starter Stuart Skinner for a one-half shot. 19 of them.

The Red Wings controlled much of the first half of the second period, but Edmonton was the team to score midway through the frame as Ryan Nugent-Hopkins found Bouchard wide open in front of the net and it beat Lyon's stick. on the 12th side of the campaign.

Detroit responded quickly with another power-play goal a minute later, as Veleno fired home his 10th on a scramble in front of Skinner.

The Red Wings continued to pour it on and tied the game with 5:30 left in the second as J.T. Compher played a good pass to Kane, who scored his eighth goal before Skinner crossed.

Edmonton regained the lead 44 seconds into the third as Holloway took a big leap off Bouchard's shot and made a dangerous dive to head home for his third goal of the season, nearly taking out captain McDavid in the process.

“It was a little scary, but I saw it coming at the last second,” McDavid said. “Holler is sometimes like a bull in a china shop. But you have to go hard on the net and he got the award there. It was a big goal for our group and really pushed us forward.”

McDavid notched his 600th career assist, making him the fourth-fastest player in NHL history.

McDavid added his fourth assist 3:27 into the third before Nugent-Hopkins picked the bottom corner with a 13-pointer through the legs of a defender.

The Oilers' third-period outburst continued with seven minutes remaining as Hyman drove under Lyon for his team's 32nd goal.

Just 46 seconds later, McDavid picked up another helper, spun around and passed to Kane, who hit the back of the net for his 19th.

With five minutes remaining, Detroit pulled one back as Perron sent Ben Chiaro past Skinner for the 11th.

McDavid added another assist with 2:11 left to set up Nugent-Hopkins' second goal of the game.

“I think his stat sheet says it all: six assists, plus-six, no power play time and he was skating,” Oilers head coach Chris Knoblauch said of McDavid.

“He was one of the few guys who skated for 60 minutes and the performances he put on tonight were incredible. If he's not at the top of his game, we might not be able to beat him.”

The Oilers captain now has 603 assists in 616 career games.

NOTES

This was the second and last meeting between the two teams this season. Edmonton won Game 1 last month in Detroit, 3-2 in overtime, where they outshot the Wings 47-18. … Detroit goaltender Wil Husso played his first game with the Wings since Dec. 18 and got off to an unexpected start, but it didn't last long. Lyons started Detroit's previous eight games. … “Wings” forward Robbie Fabbri did not play for personal reasons. Subbing was former Oiler Klim Kostin. … The Oilers sat forward Matthias Janmark and brought in veteran Sam Gagner to replace him. … Ceci recorded his 200th career NHL point on the night.

NEXT UP

Red Wings: Take on the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday in the second game of a four-game road trip.

Oilers: Begin a three-game road trip against the Blues on Thursday in St. Louis.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on February 13, 2024.