Connor McDavid shines as Oilers pound Kraken 7-2

SEATTLE (AP) — Connor McDavid had one goal and four assists, and the Edmonton Oilers defeated the Seattle Kraken 7-2 on Friday night.

Zach Hyman and Klim Kostin each scored twice as Edmonton won for the third time in four games. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had four assists and Darnell Nurse finished the game with one goal and one assist.

McDavid extended his points streak to 17 games, a career best. He has 16 goals and 21 assists during the stretch.

“He’s the best player in the world for a reason,” said Seattle native Adam Larsson, a former McDavid teammate in Edmonton. “He’s hard to stop. We can work much better at stopping him, but if you give him time and space, he’ll make you look stupid most of the time.”

Brandon Tanev and Daniel Sprong scored for Seattle’s third loss in a row.

Edmonton took control with four goals in the first half of the first period.

Hyman put the Oilers ahead with a power play goal at 2:44. It was his 16th this season.

Kostin scored at 3:16, and Nurse shot another shot past Phillipp Grubauer at 3:55. It was the second-fastest scoring trio to start a game in the NHL this season, behind only Buffalo at 2:13.

Grubauer was replaced by Martin Jones but Edmonton made it 4-0 when Jesse Puljujarvi scored his third goal of the season, 9-58.

McDavid amassed three assists in the first half, and Edmonton’s four goals were the most goals the Kraken conceded in the first game in franchise history.

Sprong put Seattle on the board at 1:50 per second. It was Sprong’s 11th season.

But Kostin and Hyman scored again in the middle for the Oilers. McDavid got his 40th assist of the season on Hyman’s 17th goal.

McDavid finished it off when he scored his NHL-leading 32nd goal 10:43 in the thirds.

“I’m always working on my game,” McDavid said. “I’m just trying to get better and some nights it’s going well and some nights it’s not. That’s the nature of this league and I’m just trying to help the team win. I get paid for that.”

Earlier this season, McDavid became just the fifth NHL player in the past 25 years to score 30 goals in 35 games or fewer.

“What he’s doing, we should all know, is very special,” said Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft. “It’s the best league in the world and he’s facing a career year. He’s doing something the league hasn’t seen in a very long time. So this is something special.”

Each of Seattle’s last three losses have been to Pacific Division rivals.

“The competitiveness and that element and that willingness to review and push difficult situations is really important. We weren’t very good there tonight,” said coach Dave Hakstol. “So this is where we need to take a good look at ourselves. We all. We are all in this together.”

WORTHLESS

Edmonton were without center Leon Draisaitl, who sustained an unspecified injury. Draisaitl has 21 goals and 36 assists in 36 games this season. … Larsson got an assist for Tanev’s goal 7:33 into the second. It was Larsson’s best fifth straight game with an assist.

NEXT

Oilers: host Winnipeg on Saturday night.

Kraken: hosts the New York Islanders on Sunday.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Shane Lantz, The Associated Press