McDavid’s historic fifth straight multi-goal game leads Oilers past Maple Leafs 5-2

By Shane Jones, The Canadian Press on March 1, 2023.

EDMONTON – Connor McDavid had two goals and an assist for his fifth consecutive multi-goal game as the Edmonton Oilers earned a 5-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday.

McDavid became the fifth player in NHL history to have such a run. Joe Malone (1921), Punch Broadbent (1922), Alexander Mogilny (1993) and Mario Lemieux (1989) are the others.

Zach Hyman, Kailer Yamamoto and Klim Kostin also scored for the Oilers (33-21-8), who snapped a two-game skid.

Stuart Skinner made 26 saves.

David Kampf and Mitch Marner replied for the Maple Leafs (37-16-8), who had their two-game winning streak halted.

Ilya Samsonov stopped 27-of-32 shots.

McDavid opened the scoring on the power play 3:49 into the first period. Samsonov gave up a rebound off a Leon Draisaitl shot that went right to McDavid, who netted it home.

Toronto pulled even on a bizarre goal 12:15 into the opening frame. Edmonton defenceman Cody Ceci effectively stopped playing thinking a sequence was offside, allowing Marner to send it in front to Kampf, who beat an abandoned Skinner for his seventh.

But the Oilers got the goal back 1:38 later as McDavid danced around a defender and found the bottom corner for his league-leading 52nd goal. It was his 10th goal in the last five games.

Hyman made it 3-1 with 1:55 to play in the first. He picked up a big rebound off a Mattias Ekholm shot and scored on a long shot with Samsonov going the other way. It was Hyman’s career-best 29th goal of the season, coming against his former team.

Ceci made up for his earlier gaffe 8:46 into the second period as his point shot was deflected by Yamamoto for his sixth.

The Oilers distanced themselves even further with 2:48 left in the second. Ryan McLeod made a perfect feed across to Kostin on a 2-on-1, and he notched his 10th of the season.

Marner cut into the deficit 1:08 into the final frame when he beat Skinner with a wrist shot on the power play.

It seemed as though Edmonton had rapidly responded with another power-play marker by Warren Foegele, but a quick whistle negated the goal.

NOTES

Ekholm, who was acquired in a blockbuster deal between Edmonton and the Nashville Predators on Tuesday, made his Oilers debut. “¦ Defenceman Jake McCabe and forward Sam Lafferty both played their first games as Maple Leafs after coming over in a deal with the Chicago Blackhawks, one of a number of trades Toronto has made recently. Defenceman Luke Schenn joined the team in Edmonton after being acquired in a deal with Vancouver, but did not dress. Fellow blueliner Erik Gustafsson, acquired in a trade with the Washington Capitals, will join the squad in Calgary on Thursday. “¦ Toronto’s William Nylander suited up for his 500th career game. “¦ The Maple Leafs had won their four previous games in Edmonton, outscoring the Oilers 18-2.

UP NEXT

The Maple Leafs head to Calgary to face the Flames on Thursday for the third of a five-game road trip.

The Oilers close out a three-game homestand against the Winnipeg Jets on Friday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 1, 2023.

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