In Vancouver, Leon Draisaitl struck for two power play goals, one late in the second period, and the second with just 47 seconds on fresh ice ion the third period, to drive the Edmonton Oilers to a 3-2 win over the Canucks.
Connor McDavid had two assists.
McDavid has 51 points on the season and Draisaitl has 50. Each has 32 assists and McDavid has 19 goals.
“They make stuff happen out there,” said Oilers coach Dave Tippett, who split McDavid and Draisaitl up with regular linemate Zack Kassian out because of a back injury. “They both were really good tonight. Connor really had his legs tonight and playing them on opposite lines we asked them to carry some guys with them, and they did.”
Mikko Koskinen made 30 saves to get the win for the visitors.
“Not a pretty game, not a pretty win, but no one is going to ask how we won this game at the end of the day,” Draisaitl said. “It was a gritty effort throughout the lineup.”
Brock Boeser and Josh Leivo scored for the Canucks.
“It’s a frustrating one,” Vancouver captain Bo Horvat said. “I thought we played really well after coming off a really tough road trip. A lot of travel and not a lot of sleep, so for us to play like we did tonight, we did a lot of good things. The power play was the difference.”
Josh Archibald also scored for the Oilers.
“He (Archibald) plays hard, he’s quick, he’s been snake-bit a little bit,” Tippett said. “It’s funny, (assistant coach) Jim Playfair said before the game, ‘I’m betting on [Archibald] getting his first tonight,’ so it was good to see.
“Playing [Saturday] night, we wanted to play four lines tonight, just spread it around and with our injury situation we’re just plugging guys in, and I was happy to see him get on the board tonight.”
[WATCH: All Oilers vs. Canucks highlights]
Jacob Markstrom made 25 saves in the loss.
“I thought we played really well back-to-back after a long road trip and dominated most of the game,” the Canucks’ defenseman Chirstopher Tanev said. “We have to get the kills to make a difference.”
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