McDavid lights it up

Connor McDavid touched all five Edmonton goals in a 5-2 win over San Jose on April 8, scoring three times and adding two assists, which is the kind of box score that makes a regular-season game look like a video game. The night pushed Edmonton into sole possession of first place in the Pacific Division with 90 points. (nhl.com) (apnews.com) This was McDavid’s 15th career hat trick, and it came one night after Edmonton blew a three-goal lead in a 6-5 loss to Anaheim. Head coach Kris Knoblauch said after the game that McDavid looked “dialed in” from the start. (espn.com) (apnews.com) He opened the scoring on the power play in the first period, then set up Vasily Podkolzin for another power-play goal later in the same frame. In the second period he scored twice more and assisted on Jack Roslovic’s goal, which meant he had a hand in every Edmonton goal before the game was done. (nhl.com) (edmontonoilers.com) The timing matters because Edmonton has been playing without Leon Draisaitl, and its power play had gone 3-for-27 over the previous 10-plus games before this one. Against San Jose, the Oilers scored twice with the man advantage and got their cleanest offensive night in days. (sportsnet.ca) (apnews.com) McDavid is not chasing a cute milestone here; he is leading the National Hockey League in points with 133 after this game. When one player can erase a flat stretch on the power play and drag a team back into first place in one night, that player becomes the entire plot of the season. (apnews.com) (espn.com) San Jose helped him by taking too many penalties and making too many mistakes in transition, and the Sharks paid for both. The loss was another hit to a team that the East Bay Times said saw its playoff hopes take a big hit in front of 15,683 fans at SAP Center. (eastbaytimes.com) (nhl.com) The highlight clips spreading after the game fit a pattern from this week, because Sportsnet had already featured another McDavid rush goal on April 7 in which he sliced through Utah defenders almost untouched. The point is not that one goal went viral; it is that Edmonton’s captain is hitting the postseason stretch looking fast enough to turn ordinary rushes into breakaway drills. (sportsnet.ca 1) (sportsnet.ca 2) Edmonton’s next test is Los Angeles on Saturday night, and that game lands with the division race suddenly tighter and more interesting because of this win. A five-point night in early April does not guarantee anything in the playoffs, but it does reset the mood around a team that still goes as far as No. 97 can drag it. (sportsnet.ca) (apnews.com)