Connor McDavid Extends Point Streak To 19 Games As Edmonton Oilers Beat New York Rangers 3-1

EDMONTON — Connor McDavid scored the first goal of the night and stretched his season-opening point streak to 19 games — 48 points already, two short of 50 — as the Edmonton Oilers (13-3-3) beat the New York Rangers (10-8-1) 3-1 on Monday night at 

Rogers Place.

The Rangers handed McDavid the goal. At 6:42 of the first period, rookie goaltender Dylan Garand went behind his net to play the puck, hit the side of the net with his clearing attempt instead of rimming it around, and McDavid was standing right there — he took it to the crease and stuffed it in before Garand could get back. It was McDavid’s 11th goal of the season, and the easiest one he’ll score all year. His streak is now 19 games — every Oilers game this season — with 48 points, 11 goals and a league-leading 37 assists, making him just the fourth player in NHL history with a 19-game point streak to open a season, joining Wayne Gretzky, Dany Heatley and Mats Sundin. His 18-game assist streak, the second-longest ever behind only Gretzky’s 23 in 1990-91, ended Monday night.

Leon Draisaitl made it 2-0 at 2:59 of the second period, chipping it in from the high slot off feeds from Vasily Podkolzin and Mattias Ekholm. The Rangers, who had won three straight coming in, got back in it shorthanded: Mika Zibanejad fed Jaroslav Chmelar coming out of the penalty box at 5:05 of the second, and Chmelar put it top corner past Devon Levi — the first shorthanded goal of his career — to make it 2-1.

That was as close as New York got, because its power play never produced. The Rangers went 0 for 5 with the man advantage, including two chances in the third period, and with 1:27 left, after Edmonton’s Ryan Shea took a penalty, the Rangers pulled Garand for a 6-on-4 — and Draisaitl scored into the empty net from his own zone at 18:47, a shorthanded goal and his league-leading 18th of the season.

Levi made 29 saves for the Oilers, who swept the season series with New York after also winning 4-1 on Nov. 1, and have now won two in a row. The Oilers host the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday; the Rangers’ three-game winning streak is over.

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