Edmonton 5, Vancouver 3
When: 10:00 PM ET, Wednesday, October 12, 2022
Where: Rogers Place, Edmonton, Alberta
Referees:
Garrett Rank, Kelly Sutherland
Linesmen:
Brandon Gawryletz, Mark Shewchyk
Attendance:
18347
By Field Level Media
Connor McDavid scored a hat trick and also had an assist as the host Edmonton Oilers rallied from a three-goal, second-period deficit to defeat the Vancouver Canucks 5-3 on Wednesday night in the season opener for both teams.
McDavid has 11 career regular-season hat tricks plus one in the 2020 playoff qualifying round. He also became the sixth-fastest player in NHL history to reach the 700-point plateau, getting there in 488 games.
Leon Draisaitl had a goal and two assists, Darnell Nurse scored a short-handed goal and added an assist and Zach Hyman also had two assists for the Oilers. Jack Campbell made 33 saves in his Edmonton debut.
J.T. Miller had a goal and an assist and Elias Pettersson and Andrei Kuzmenko also scored goals for Vancouver. Thatcher Demko finished with 20 saves.
Vancouver jumped out to a 2-0 lead on goals by Pettersson and Miller just 51 seconds apart, setting a franchise record for the two fastest goals to start a season in the process. The Canucks needed just 2:40 to score the two goals, breaking the previous mark of 3:55 set in 1983 against the Calgary Flames.
The 26-year-old Kuzmenko, an undrafted free agent making his Vancouver debut after starring in the Kontinental Hockey League in Russia, made it 3-0 just 39 seconds into the second period with a power-play goal, tapping in Miller's cross-ice pass into a wide-open right side of the net.
But Edmonton rebounded to tie it before the end of the period with three goals in the span of 15:07. The first two came on the power play.
Draisaitl got the first one on a wrist shot from the bottom of the right circle and McDavid followed with wrist shot from the right side of the goal at the end of a tic-tac-toe passing play with Tyson Barrie and Draisaitl. Nurse then tied it at the 19:19 mark with a short-handed goal, one-timing a shot from the right circle off a Draisaitl pass at the end of a three-on-one break.
McDavid then gave Edmonton its first lead with 4:59 to go in the game when he buried his own rebound from the low slot for his 700th career NHL point.
Vancouver pulled Demko for an extra attacker with 2:11 to go and McDavid sealed the win with an empty-netter off an Evander Kane feed with 24.5 seconds left.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
| Vancouver |
|
Edmonton |
|
J.T. Miller 2 |
Points |
Connor McDavid 4 |
|
J.T. Miller 1 |
Goals |
Connor McDavid 3 |
|
J.T. Miller 1 |
Assists |
Leon Draisaitl 2 |
|
Andrei Kuzmenko 1 |
Power Play Goals |
Connor McDavid 2 |
|
N/A |
Short Handed Goals |
Darnell Nurse 1 |
|
Thatcher Demko .833 |
Save Percentage |
Jack Campbell .917 |
|
Thatcher Demko 20 |
Saves |
Jack Campbell 33 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Shots |
Goals |
Power Play |
Penalty Kill |
Penalty Mins |
Face Offs Won |
| Vancouver
|
36 |
3 |
1-8 |
1-4 |
8 |
37 |
| Edmonton
|
25 |
5 |
3-4 |
7-8 |
16 |
34 |
Upcoming Games
-
Edmonton will play their next game at home against Calgary. The Oilers have a W/L % of 1.000 after a win and .000 after a loss.
-
Vancouver will play their next game on the road against Philadelphia. The Canucks have a W/L % of .000 after a win and .000 after a loss.
For more information, contact us