McDavid’s 2 goals, assist help Oilers surge past Maple Leafs in Jarry debut

TORONTO -- Connor McDavid had two goals and an assist, and the Edmonton Oilers rallied with five straight goals in a 6-3 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday.

McDavid, who had four assists in a 4-1 win against the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday, extended his point streak to five games. He has 15 points (seven goals, eight assists) during that stretch.

“I thought the effort from start to finish was great,” Edmonton defenseman Darnell Nurse said. “They had some pushes especially early on in the game, we were able to weather them and we had our own pushes. [Tristan] Jarry made some big saves at key moments for us and we were able to capitalize on opportunities that came our way.”

Vasily Podkolzin scored twice, Leon Draisaitl had three assists, and Jarry made 25 saves in his debut for the Oilers (15-11-6), who are 4-0-1 in their past five games. Jarry was acquired in a trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday that sent goalie Stuart Skinner and defenseman Brett Kulak to Pittsburgh.

“As the game goes on, it’s a lot of the same game, just a different place with a different uniform,” Jarry said. “That was the biggest thing, just trying to settle in as quick as possible, play my game and be sound for them. They did a great job possessing the puck, backchecking, holding on to the puck and that led to a lot of opportunities for us tonight.”

Easton Cowan, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Steven Lorentz scored for the Maple Leafs (14-12-5), who had a six-game point streak end (4-0-2). Dennis Hildeby, making his fourth straight start, made 27 saves before being pulled in the third period, and Artur Akhtyamov made five saves in relief in his NHL debut.

“Probably a little tired tonight from watching his puck-handles, but he played really well for us,” Toronto coach Craig Berube said of Hildeby and the decision to remove him. “He played well again tonight, he gave us a chance to win.”

McDavid began Edmonton’s five-goal spurt, tying the game 2-2 at 10:29 of the second period when his centering pass was inadvertently put in by Toronto defenseman Troy Stecher as he attempted to clear the puck away from the slot on a play that was ruled an own goal.

The Oilers then scored three times in 2:26 to take a three-goal lead.

Nurse put them ahead 3-2 at 19:29 when he one-timed a pass from Draisaitl at the top of the right face-off circle.

“Thirty seconds to go in the second period, we throw a puck blind into the slot,” Berube said. “First of all, they should have changed but they don’t, and we get caught on the wrong side of it and give up a goal late after playing pretty well for two periods. Just not smart hockey.”

Podkolzin stretched it to 4-2 at 1:21 of the third period when he deflected Draisaitl’s shot and it caromed in off his left knee at the top of the crease.

He scored again 34 seconds later to make it 5-2 at 1:55 by redirecting Draisaitl’s pass in the slot. The assist was Draisaitl’s 999th NHL point (416 goals, 583 assists).

Zach Hyman, who had a hat trick on Thursday against the Red Wings, then made it 6-2 at 9:28 when he poked in a loose puck at the side of the net after Ryan Nugent-Hopkins centered it from below the goal line.

The Oilers have scored 28 goals and allowed 14 during their five-game point streak.

“If you look at all the numbers, we were a top-three possession team early on in the season and it wasn’t leading to much offense, but now we have the mindset to attack more and I think you are seeing that,” Hyman said. “We are attacking the net more and even if we don’t get it back, it’s flipped out, they’re tired and then we can transition and reattack. It’s just a mindset to get pucks back, attack and get on the inside.”

Lorentz one-timed a pass from Jake McCabe at 19:12 for the 6-3 final.

McDavid put the Oilers up 1-0 at 3:25 of the first period. He sped between Morgan Rielly and Ekman-Larsson at the offensive blue line and scored with a forehand deke past Hildeby’s outstretched right pad.

“Hard to understand,” Maple Leafs forward Scott Laughton said. “Just have to be better managing games in certain situations. We see those guys and know how good they are in moments and it can turn on you that quick. We just have to know we don’t have to make the perfect play every shift. It’s a 60-minute game for a reason, you have to wear the other team down and go the other way, play north, make them come 200 feet. I don’t think we did enough of that.”

The Maple Leafs tied it 1-1 at 16:03. After taking a pass from Cowan, Laughton swung a backhand shot toward Jarry, which led to a rebound that was chipped in by Cowan.

Ekman-Larsson put the Maple Leafs up 2-1 at 4:54 of the second when he took a pass from Matthew Knies and shot glove side from the high slot.

NOTES: Defenseman Spencer Stastney, who was acquired in a trade with the Nashville Predators on Friday, was minus-1 with four shots on goal and played 16:22 in his Oilers debut. … Draisaitl extended his point streak to five games (12 points; two goals, 10 assists). … Maple Leafs forward Dakota Joshua missed the game with an illness.