McDavid paces Edmonton Oilers to 6-2 win over New York Rangers

New York Rangers' Jacob Trouba (8) tries to defend against Edmonton Oilers' Connor McDavid (97) during second period NHL action in Edmonton on Saturday, November 23, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson

Connor McDavid had two goals and an assist for the Edmonton Oilers in a 6-2 win over the visiting New York Rangers on Saturday.

Leon Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard each had a goal and an assist and Vasily Podkolzin and Darnell Nurse also scored for the Oilers (11-9-2) who improved to 5-2-1 in their last eight games.

Mattias Janmark and Connor Brown each contributed a pair of assists to Edmonton's victory.

Artemi Panarin replied with a pair of goals for the Rangers (12-6-1) who have lost two straight after opening a four-game road trip with a pair of wins.

Stuart Skinner stopped 33 shots in Edmonton's net. Rangers counterpart Jonathan Quick made 34 saves.

TAKEAWAYS

Rangers: Went with Quick over star goalie Igor Shesterkin, but the former has historically played well against Edmonton with a 25-12-6 record, a 2.18 goals-against average and .921 save percentage against the Oilers before Saturday's game. Quick, 38, stopped 18 shots in the first period before he was scored on twice in the final three minutes of the opening frame. 

Oilers: Podkolzin, who was all over opposing team's nets in recent games, was finally rewarded when he beat Quick with 2:26 to play in the first period. It was the 23-year-old Russian's first goal as an Oiler and first since March of last year for a span of 42 regular season games. The Canucks traded Podkolzin to Edmonton last summer for a fourth-round pick.

Key moment

With eight seconds remaining in the opening period, Oilers defenceman Darnell Nurse scored short-handed to give Edmonton a 2-0 lead. It was Nurse's first game back in the lineup after a check to his head by Toronto's Ryan Reaves a week earlier. Reaves was slapped with a five-game suspension. Nurse pointed to his head after his goal, which was the sixth short-handed of his career. He's tied for first among active defencemen with Vancouver's Tyler Myers.

Key stat

The Oilers improved to 7-2-1 in their last 10 meetings with the Ranger. Edmonton has scored four or more goals in seven of its last nine contests against New York.

Up next

Rangers: Host the St. Louis Blues on Monday.

Oilers: Are off until Friday's road game against Utah.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 23, 2024.