McDavid has goal, 2 assists, Oilers score 7 to ease past Canucks

VANCOUVER -- Connor McDavid had a goal and two assists for the Edmonton Oilers in a 7-3 win against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena on Saturday.

Mattias Janmark had three assists, Connor Brown scored twice, and Leon Draisaitl and Brett Kulak each had a goal and an assist for the Oilers (7-7-1), who won for the first time in three games. Stuart Skinner made 17 saves.

“It was a step in the right direction, for sure,” McDavid said. “Not an easy building to win in, a team that obviously we've got lots of history with and this is a great win. Hopefully it's something that we can build on.”

Edmonton pulled away with four straight goals in the third period, including two goals by Brown and one for McDavid on a power play that came into the game ranked 26th in the NHL at 14.3 percent.

“It was a solid effort by our group but the main thing is that third period, the way we show composure and poise in the third and made plays with the lead and piled on,” Brown said. “I think there's a lot of momentum to be built off that game, especially that third period.”

Elias Pettersson had a goal and assist for the Canucks (7-3-3), who had their win streak end at three games and lost in regulation for just the second time in the past 10 (7-2-1).

“We had a good push in the second, we got some life,” Pettersson said. “It set us up well in the third, but they came out harder and wanted it more.”

Kevin Lankinen was pulled in the third period after seven goals on 27 shots, his first regulation loss (7-1-2) this season. Arturs Silovs made four saves in relief.

“He’s a competitor. He hung in there,” coach Rick Tocchet said of Lankinen, who had a .923 save percentage coming into the game. “That guy is a fighter. He’s the least of our problems.”

Draisaitl made it 1-0 at 2:48 of the first period -- four seconds after an Oilers power play expired -- by collecting a loose puck below the goal and quickly pulling it out front before lifting it over the outstretched left pad of Lankinen.

Edmonton’s power play, which led the NHL over the two previous seasons combined at 29.5 percent, finished 1-for-3 but as McDavid and coach Kris Knoblauch pointed out, Draisaitl’s goal was effectively with an extra attacker because the penalized player couldn’t get back in the play in time.

“It's pretty much a power-play goal,” McDavid said. “Another one in the third to kind of seal it. That's what we want to do. We want to contribute to games, contribute to wins. We've done that for years and years and I would expect that it'll get going.”

Corey Perry made it 2-0 at 3:30 of the second period after a Canucks clearing attempt bounced off a stanchion to create a 3-on-2, finishing off a pretty cross-ice passing play from Derek Ryan and Janmark with a backdoor tap-in.

Viktor Arvidsson put the Oilers ahead 3-0 off the rush at 4:43 with a low shot past Lankinen’s blocker from inside the top of the left face-off circle.

Pettersson scored 18 seconds later, deflecting a Jake DeBrusk slap shot from the point between the legs of Skinner to make it 3-1 at 5:01.

Filip Hronek made it 3-2 at 7:00 with his first goal of the season, a one-timer over Skinner’s glove from inside the top of the right circle.

Brown extended the lead to 4-2 at 6:10 of the third period after the puck bounced to him alone at the side of the net during a scramble in front.

McDavid made it 5-2 on a power-play rebound that found him alone at the other side of the net at 7:16, then made a cross-ice pass to Kulak off the rush for a wrist shot between the legs of Lankinen at 8:08 to make it 6-2.

“[Assistant coach] Glen [Gulutzan] and I were talking on the bench about 'this is the time we need a goal. If we can score here we feel the game is sealed’ and they came out and executed right away,” Knoblauch said of McDavid’s goal. “Our power play was looking good tonight ... when we needed it most, in third period, they came out.”

Brown scored his second goal with a rush wrist shot from the left dot to make it 7-2 at 11:05, ending Lankinen’s night.

“I've been getting lots of scoring chances in and around the net night in, night out, so it's nice to see a few fall,” Brown said.

Pius Suter scored a power-play goal on a backdoor pass from Pettersson at 19:06 for the 7-3 final.

“When we got back 3-2, I liked our second and then a couple of miscues, executions, it’s in our net,” Tocchet said. “After that, we lost juice. We looked really tired. McDavid started to go into third and we just couldn't match it.”

NOTES: McDavid has 995 career points in 657 games and can become the fourth-fastest player to reach 1,000 points (Wayne Gretzky, 424 games; Mario Lemieux, 513; Mike Bossy, 656). ... McDavid has at least one point in 18 of his last 19 regular season games against Vancouver and 40 points (16 goals, 24 assists) total in those games. His 67 career points (24 goals, 43 assists) against the Canucks are his most against any NHL team. … Draisaitl has at least one point in 22 of his last 23 regular season games against the Canucks and 36 points total in those games (17 goals, 19 assists). … Canucks forward Danton Heinen had one assist in 16:55 while playing in his 500th NHL game. … Vancouver defenseman Quinn Hughes had one assist, giving him nine points (two goals, seven assists) in his past six games.