GAME RECAP: Oilers 7, Utah 1

EDMONTON, AB – Salt in the wound.

The Edmonton Oilers exploded for seven goals in a 7-1 victory over Utah Hockey Club on Tuesday night, sweeping the season series with the NHL expansion side and winning their third straight game in the first game of a four-game homestand at Rogers Place.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (1G, 2A), Zach Hyman (2G, 1A), Connor McDavid (1G, 2A) and Mattias Ekholm (1G, 2A) each had multi-point nights after the Oilers recorded seven goals on 42 shots, while forwards Vasily Podkolzin and Viktor Arvidsson each added goals in Edmonton's 40th victory of the campaign.

Nugent-Hopkins scored in a third straight game against Utah after opening the scoring with a shorthanded marker in the first period and has now registered eight points (1G, 7A) in his last eight games, including six points over his last six periods with back-to-back three-point nights.

"I'm just trying to play the same game. It can be funny sometimes," Nugent-Hopkins said. "You do all the right things and nothing shows up on the scoresheet, and then sometimes, you get some bounces and they go in for you. So I'm just trying to play the same way and try to help out however I can."

Ekholm marked his return from a six-game injury absence on Tuesday with three points to reach the 30-point plateau for the seventh straight season, while McDavid's three-point outing extended his point streak to 12 games, totalling four goals and 14 assists.

Despite seven goals from the Oilers, Leon Draisaitl's career-best and league-high point streak of 18 games came to an end as the only casualty from what was a complete performance from the Blue & Orange to earn the victory, with the German forward still searching for goal No. 50 this season.

Goaltender Calvin Pickard stopped 29 of 30 shots for the win for his second straight victory after picking up the result on Long Island on Friday night, combining with Stuart Skinner to stop 74 of the last 77 shots faced by Oilers netminders over the last three games (.961 save percentage).

"I think just our full team game. All four lines were rolling," Darnell Nurse said. "We had to get kills, and the penalty kill stepped up. Special teams was good all around, so it's nice. It was a good win for us. We got on the front foot and Picks made some big saves for us, and we stayed on it."

The Oilers will look to carry their momentum into Thursday night's meeting with the Winnipeg Jets at Rogers Place.

FIRST PERIOD

The vibes were immaculate inside Rogers Place through 20 minutes after a three-goal explosion from the Oilers – including a shorthanded opener from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – left Utah Hockey Club with a 'mammoth' task heading into the intermission.

See what we did there?

The Oilers did all their damage in the final 7:32 of the first period, starting with Nugent-Hopkins looking like a man on a mission by scoring shorthanded for his 17th goal of the season after chipping the puck past Mikhail Sergachev at the blueline and racing in against two Utah players before roofing a backhand effort short side on goaltender Karel Vejmelka.

Nugent-Hopkins said Tuesday's performance started in the first 12 minutes with their play as a five-man unit, which laid the foundation for their big win.

"I thought early on at five-on-five, we were pushing the pace and putting a lot on net, which we've talked about a lot," he said. "Getting guys going there and then we get a lot of rebounds from that, so we got rewarded with some special teams after that. But I thought it started with our five-on-five play."

Fresh off recording three assists at Madison Square Garden on Sunday against the Rangers, the longest-tenured Oiler has been on a tear as of late, which continued 2:46 after his opener when he factored in on a fifth straight goal shortly after the expiry of a Utah penalty he helped draw.

With League leading scorer Leon Draisaitl being shadowed heavily by Logan Cooley in the right circle, Connor McDavid took the opportunity to pick out Zach Hyman inside the blue paint for an easy tap-in to score his 23rd goal of the season, while extending the Oilers captain's point streak to 12 games.

A secondary assist for Nugent-Hopkins meant he'd factored in on the last five Oilers goals, picking up five points (1G, 4A) over his previous four periods.

Following a fight between Darnell Nurse and Jack McBain at centre ice with less than half a minute remaining in a dominating period, there was still time on the clock for Connor McDavid to score a beauty and make it 3-0 with four seconds left in the frame to give the captain goals in back-to-back games.

Defenceman Mattias Ekholm, making his return to the lineup from a six-game injury absence on Tuesday, fired a pass into the neutral zone from below the goal line to Evan Bouchard, who laid off a pass to McDavid with speed before he beat the clock by splitting the Utah defence and fooling Vejmelka with a deceptive dangle.

The Oilers were well on their way to sweeping the season series against Utah thanks to their three-goal opening frame, having won 4-3 in overtime during their inaugural visit to Salt Lake City on Nov. 29 before winning 4-1 back in Edmonton on New Year’s Eve.

SECOND PERIOD

Even after Jaxson Stauber replaced Karel Vejmelka between the Utah pipes to begin the middle frame, it didn't help slow the roll of the Oilers en route to taking a commanding 5-1 lead through 40 minutes as they tracked twards claiming their third straight victory.

In addition to controlling the play, Edmonton was even getting the bounces, having a netbound feed from Ekholm along the goal line go in off the leg of Hyman for his second of the game 7:41 into the period after he was directed into the Utah crease by a push in the back from defenceman Olli Määttä.

"I think we were opportunistic," Knoblauch said. "It's just how things worked out, like the goal that went off Hyman and stuff like that. But I think first and foremost, that's a fast team that we needed to be skating against, and I liked some of the goals that we scored just on reloads, back checks, the way we were checking to create some turnovers in the neutral zone, and then we countered with some plays there.

"That's probably the biggest thing I liked was how well we checked, and we did that by skating."

After missing Sunday’s game in New York to injury, Hyman returned on Tuesday with two goals to notch his 23rd and 24th of the season to put him on watch for his first hat trick of the season. According to NHL EDGE Advanced Stats, Hyman leads the NHL with 60 goals from the high-danger zone dating back to last season, which is nine ahead of the next closest player in Tampa Bay's Brayden Point (51).

Before the midway mark of the period, winger Vasily Podkolzin would unleash an unbeatable wrist shot from the top of the right circle to score his first goal in 24 games, taking a drop pass from Nugent-Hopkins, who recorded his second assist and third point to give him eight points (1G, 7A) over his last seven games, and going top shelf.

Nugent-Hopkins has found himself in a groove as Edmonton's third-line centre next to Podkolzin and Arvidsson and benefitting from a few more puck touches than he'd normally get as a winger.

"I think anytime that a player is struggling or not playing at their highest performance, when you're playing the middle, it's much easier to get in a rhythm and feel more confident with your game," Knoblauch said. "You're just you're always moving, you're touching the puck a lot more, and Ryan's a tremendous playmaker. He's got a lot of speed on both wings that are helping him out, but it's nice to see that he's making some nice plays and playing with a lot of confidence."

That gave the Oilers a five-goal lead with over half the game still to be played before Utah eventually got on the board through defenceman Sean Durzi just as a power play expired in the final four minutes of the frame, ending goaltender Calvin Pickard's bid for a shutout.

The only thing that felt missing on Tuesday night was Leon Draisaitl's 50th goal of the season, which his teammates were trying to help him find by feeding the German forward relentlessly with passes for the rest of the game – including on a second-period power play where McDavid fed him for their patented no-look turn-around shot in the hashmarks before he took a drop-knee shot from the slot that was saved by Stauber.

Sadly, his 18-game point streak would come to an end on Tuesday night, but goal No. 50 doesn't feel like it's far away for the German.

"We know it'll come," Nugent-Hopkins. "Obviously, he's been driving us this whole season, so I think in a game like that, sometimes that's just the way it works."

THIRD PERIOD

Two more goals from the Oilers over the final 20 minutes rubbed salt in the wound for the side from Salt Lake City – starting with a blast from Ekholm to make it a monumental return to the lineup for the Swedish defenceman with a goal and two assists.

Edmonton was wheeling around Utah's zone early in the third period when Hyman intercepted the puck from former Oil Kings forward Dylan Guenther and poked it to Ekholm in between the circles, who let fly a rocket of a wrist shot that he tucked away top shelf on Stauber for his ninth goal and 30th point of the season, reaching the 30-point threshhold for the seventh time in his career.

"It didn't look like he missed any time at all the way he was moving the puck, making plays and finishing his checks," Knoblauch said. "Not only having him on the ice is nice, but it also helps everybody else. Obviously, Bouchard is playing with him, but also the forwards. It's tremendous having him back."

With the return of Ekholm to the fold along with Jake Walman's addition at the Trade Deadline, Edmonton's blueline is looking quite formidable and could be a big X-Factor for the Oilers coming down the stretch in their quest for first place in the Pacific Division and into the playoffs.

"Yeah, it was great," Nurse said. "I think Ekky and Bouch were great out there and they made amazing plays. I think the six of us as a group, as we continue to get more and more chemistry and mesh, it's really exciting to look at our back end and be a part of it."

Just 2:03 later, winger Viktor Arvidsson would capitalize on some carelessness from forward Clayton Keller with the puck on his stick in front of the Utah crease by taking the puck away from him and scoring an unassisted marker.

Arvidsson scored in a second straight game and for a third time in six contests after notching the game-winning goal in Sunday's 3-1 victory over the Rangers, while reaching double-digit tallies with his 10th of the season after making it 7-1 for the Oilers.

"Obviously, confidence is a big thing in this game. And when they don't go in, you can lose some confidence," Nugent-Hopkins said. "But you gotta talk to each other, help each other out and encourage each other to shoot the puck and go to the right places, and eventually, they'll get rewarded."

That put a wrap on Edmonton's third straight victory, putting up seven goals in a game for the third time this season after only averaging 2.88 goals per game since Feb. 1, which was tied for 21st in the NHL in that span along with Utah.

"I think we just gotta continue to stick to the process of our game, especially on the offensive end," Nurse said. "You're go through stretches where the puck isn't going in, but as long as you continue to create chances, you know the odds will turn out in your favor. So I think for our group, guys have been discouraged and they continue to make plays and play with confidence, and that's gotta continue."

Additionally, the Oilers have allowed just one goal against for three straight games, showing that their all-around game could be heating up at the right time.

"For our group, I think we understand if we want to have the season that we want to have, it's going to come down to defending at the end of the day," Nurse said. "For us to put that together, it's got to continue. I think there's been a lot of good steps defensively and limiting things to the outside, and then our goaltenders have also been awesome for us the last three, so we gotta keep that up."