Connor McDavid did Connor McDavid things as the Vegas Golden Knights fell to the Edmonton Oilers 4-2 at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday night.
Looking to finish the homestand on a high after going down to the San Jose Sharks in Overtime on Thursday night, the Vegas Golden Knights were unable to gain some ground in the Pacific Division by beating the leaders.
Edmonton got on the board early thanks to McDavid and they never really looked back as Ethan Bear made it a 2-0 game.
Cody Eakin has been lethal in-front of goal as of late and he got Vegas on the board in the first period, although Markus Granlund made it a two-goal game again in the middle frame.
Shea Theodore then scored an early Goal of the Year contender with a filthy effort, but McDavid iced the game in the third period with his second of the night to inflict a second straight loss on the Vegas Golden Knights.
Let’s delve into the game by breaking it down period-by-period:
The Game
First Period – The Vegas Golden Knights had the chance to pull to within three points of the Pacific Division leading Edmonton Oilers with a win, but the game got off to a nightmare start for the hosts.
Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid, who have combined for just under 100 points already this year, teamed up yet again as Draisaitl fed McDavid who then proceeded to skate through the Vegas defense before beating Marc-Andre Fleury at 5:17.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins did bundle the puck into the net but it was ruled out after James Neal was adjudged to have smacked the puck out of Fleury’s glove, although it didn’t take long for the Oilers to make it a 2-0 game.
Defenseman Ethan Bear received the puck from Draisaitl before wristing a shot from the circle beyond Fleury at 16:00.
But it was a one-goal game minutes later thanks to Cody Eakin, who scored his third goal in four games after hammering a loose puck in front of the net past Mike Smith in the Edmonton goal at 19:40.
The shots were even at 9-9 at the end of the first period with the Golden Knights trailing by just a goal.
Second Period – Marc-Andre Fleury made a huge save on Josh Archibald to start the middle frame, before Alex Tuch raced back and lifted the stick of Gaetan Haas to stop a partial breakaway.
Connor McDavid rang a shot off the post and William Karlsson fired a shot over the goal on a breakaway, before the Oilers stretched their lead at 12:04.
Markus Granlund stole the puck from behind the net and fired a shot on Fleury, and he was the quickest to react to backhand his own rebound into the net.
But that goal was bettered by Shea Theodore, who decided to put on an absolute show in order to make it a one-goal game again at 14:19.
Picking up the puck and then skating into the offensive zone, Theodore weaved his way through the Edmonton defense, deking past Adam Larsson and then wristing a shot beyond Mike Smith.
It was a filthy effort.
Edmonton outshot the Golden Knights 13-8 in the second period but they still held a slender one-goal lead heading into the final 20 minutes of action.
Third Period – The Edmonton Oilers are proving game-by-game that they are the real deal this year and they iced the game at 2:11 in the third period.
And it was that man Connor McDavid again who did the damage, receiving a feed from Leon Draisaitl before one-timing the puck past Marc-Andre Fleury on the power play.
And the Oilers then did an exceptional job of neutralizing the Golden Knights for the remainder of the game, limiting them to 10 shots and ensuring that Vegas fell to 11-10-4 on the year following a second consecutive loss.
Let’s go over some notes & stats from the game…