McDavid hits century mark for assists in 9-2 laugher over San Jose

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The Edmonton Oilers wrapped up their regular home season schedule on Tuesday with a 9-2 romp over an over-matched San Jose Sharks.

Along the way, Connor McDavid in his return from a minor injury skated into the National Hockey League record books with his 100^th assist of the season.

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Here is the tale of the tape…

Edmonton Oilers Player Grades

STUART SKINNER. 6. Stuart skinner barely broke a sweat in the 1^st Period as the Oilers dominated San Jose at the other end. Allowed an uggggly one early in the 2^nd. Bast to get those out of the way now before the playoffs arrive. Redeemed himself with a glove save that snatched away a breakaway bid from Givani Smith. Fine stop on a Graf one-timer early in the 3^rd. The victim of a twisted-up scramble in front on the 9-2. Wins his 36^th game of the season.

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CONNOR McDAVID. 8. Returned to the lineup after a three-game absence and scored 13 seconds into his first shift, receiving a nice pass from Nurse, and streaking up the left side before banking it in off a defender for the 1-0. Excellent back-check took away a net side opportunity from Granlund early in the 2^nd. Started the play with a steal in his own zone but no assist on the 7-1. He did that on the 9-1. 97 burst into the San Jose zone on a 2-on-1 and sifted a pass across to Zach Hyman who buried his 54^th and put his linemate into the NHL record books with 100^th assist. Only Gretzky, Lemieux and Orr had done that previously. The Rogers Place subsequently showered their Captain with a thundering chant of “MVP, MVP, MVP.” His grade here is elevated one, full point in recognition of his accomplishment.

ADAM HENRIQUE. 8. A terrific performance while flanking Connor McDavid on the top line. Won the O-Zone faceoff on the 2-0 sequence, then beat two defenders to the net where he found the puck and deposited it behind the netminder for his 6^th as an Oiler. Found Holloway in front for the 2-0. Rang another off the post. Lasered a pass across to a hard-charging Cody Ceci for the 7-1. Excellent defensively, although this trio had the puck…a lot! +4.

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ZACH HYMAN. 7. Zach Hyman was whistled for an unlucky high sticking call in the 1^st. Secondary assist on the 7-1. Then, became a part of history as he shoveled home a perfect pass from Connor McDavid for the 9-1 goal (his 54^th) as #97 hit the 100 Assist mark. +3.

DARNELL NURSE. 8. A 3-point night. A stretch pass up the middle to McDavid on the 1-0. Collected a 2^nd assist on the Holloway goal after he found Henrique deep in the San Jose zone. Earned his 3^rd assist on the 8-1. 3^rd Period post. 3 shots, 3hits. Led the team in 5v5 CF at 28-9, 76%. High Dangers 4-2.

CODY CECI. 7. Charged in from the point and potted a perfectly timed Henrique feed for the 7-1. At that point, San Jose’s young goalie was mercifully pulled. High Dangers 55v 5-2.+4.

LEON DRAISAITL. 7. Nifty pass to a pinching Ekholm for a dangerous shot. Won a hard board Battle in his own zone and then dished up a ridiculous one-handed, back-hand pass to a hard-charging Foegele who beat the goaltender 5-hole for the 3-0. Secondary assist on the 5-1. Nice pass to Foegele who stung the post with a wicked wrist shot. 73% on draws. 5v5 CF 71%.

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RYAN NUGENT-HOPKINS. 6. Deflection pass to Foegele on the 5-1. Busted his ass in 1 9-1 game to get back and erase a 2-on-1, but the puck continued to pin-ball round and ended up the 9-2.

WARREN FOEGELE. 7. Took a fantastic pass from Draisaitl, broke hard up the left-hand side and beat the Sharks goalie between the pads for the 3-0, his 18^th. Corralled his 19^th with a hard battle in front finishing with a rebound swatted home to make it 5-1. Rang the post hard mid-way through the 3^rd. 8 shots. Led the forwards in 5v5 CF (23-8, 74%).

MATTIAS EKHOLM. 8. Ekholm hammered a slapper off the goalie’s shoulder after a nice feed from Draisaitl. He and Bouchard got crossed up a bit on the 4-1 play, but no one was more at fault than the goaltender. +4. 5v5 CF 28-11, 72%. In terms of 5v5 High Dangers, Mattias Ekholm was a commanding 12-0. Wow.

EVAN BOUCHARD. 8. Earned his 80^th point of the season with a secondary assist on the 6-1. Only the great Paul Coffey has achieved that mark for a D-man in Oilers franchise history. Tapped in a dandy pass from Perry. +3. High Danger scoring chances 5v5? Evan Bouchard was 11-0.

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RYAN McLEOD. 7. A steal deep in the San Jose zone led to the 8-1. The pivot on a trio that had San Jose on its heels much of the night. McLeod, Holloway, and Perry have some kind of chemistry right now.

DYLAN HOLLOWAY. 8. His first 3-point game of his NHL career. Lowered the boom on Granlund in his own zone with a heavy hit in the 1^st. Then, slapped home a slick pass from Henrique late in the 1^st from the high slot for the 4-0. Could not quite bury a pass from Corey Perry early in the 2^nd. Then, just a terrific feed across to Perry for the 6-1. Great play along the wall helped lead to Bouchard’s goal, the 8-1. 4 shots, 4 hits. Making it a very difficult decision to not play him in Game 1 of the post season.

COREY PERRY. 7. Part of a withering cycle then eventually resulted in the 4-0. A feed to Holloway for a chance early in the 2^nd. Slammed home the 6-1 goal off a terrific feed from Holloway. Perfect, feathery-soft pass to Bouchard net side for the 8-1 marker. 3^rd Period post. +3.

BRETT KULAK. 5. Fired the shot from the point which Henrique found for the 2-0.

VINCENT DESHARNAIS. 5. Caught up trying to make a play in a 9-1 game. San Jose turned that into a jail break and eventually the 9-1.

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SAM CARRICK. 5. 80% on faceoffs. This line got lots of ice with the score being so one-sided. Carrick played 15:21. 1 shot, 2 hits.

MATTIAS JANMARK. 5. Skated miles, solid defensively but his stats line was flat as the prairie horizon: 0-0-0, 0 shots, 0 hits, +/- of 0 in a 9-2 game.

CONNOR BROWN. 5. Did manage 3 shots on net and like Janmark, worked hard.

Edmonton’s record now sits at 49-25-6, 104 points. 3 back of Vancouver in the Pacific with 2 games left.

Find me on Threads @kleavins, on Instagram at LeavinsOnHockey, Mastodon at KurtLeavins@mstdn.social, and X @KurtLeavins.

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