Connor McDavid Puts Up 5 Points as Oilers Rout Utah

Connor McDavid scored 40 seconds in and never really let up. The Oilers captain had two goals and three assists in a 6-2 win over the Utah Mammoth on Saturday night at Delta Center, two nights after Utah beat Edmonton 4-2.

That five-point night pushed his season-opening point streak to eight games and his NHL-leading total to 23 points (six goals, 17 assists). Per NHL.com, those 17 assists tie Wayne Gretzky (1986-87) and Mario Lemieux (1995-96) for the most through a player's first eight games of a season, and he is the second-fastest player ever to 20 points, behind only Lemieux's seven games in 1995-96.

How Connor McDavid took over in Utah

Leon Draisaitl sent him in on a breakaway, and McDavid cut wide through the left circle, came across the slot and slid a backhand around Karel Vejmelka's left pad. It was his seventh opening-minute goal, tying a franchise record held by Mark Messier.

From there he set the table. He fed Zach Hyman for a power-play goal, had an Evan Bouchard point shot glance off him before Kasperi Kapanen buried the rebound for 4-0, and then sent Draisaitl up the ice on a breakaway for 5-0, which chased Vejmelka in the second period. When Utah got within 5-2 in the third, McDavid poked the puck off John Marino in the neutral zone and finished his own breakaway at 10:17 to close it out.

"It's crazy. He's flying," Hyman said. "It looks like he's hit another gear this year, finishing like crazy."

Babcock likes what he sees from his captain

Coach Mike Babcock pointed to more than the points. "He's done everything that I've asked, and done it with a way that he seems to enjoy it," he said. "It's impossible to coach a team when your best player isn't driving, and this guy's driving."

Draisaitl had a goal and an assist and has goals in three straight games. Bouchard added an assist to stretch his point streak to five games and leads all NHL defensemen with 16 points. Tristan Jarry made 26 saves, and the Oilers (6-1-1) moved into the league lead at 4.63 goals per game.

Utah coach Andre Tourigny did not like his team's compete at all. "Kudos to Edmonton; they did it for two games in a row, and we didn't," he said.

Oilers head home on a roll

Edmonton is now a franchise-best 5-0-0 on the road this season and opens a five-game home stand Tuesday against the Minnesota Wild at Rogers Place.

If McDavid is on your fantasy roster, you already know. He is the best player on the ice most nights, and right now he is doing it at a pace only Gretzky and Lemieux have touched.

Eight games in, the Oilers have the league's top scorer, the league's best offense and five straight home games to keep it rolling. Edmonton fans get to watch this run up close next.