McDavid, Oilers defeat Lightning, 6-2

It should not be necessary, but sometimes one player needs to put a team on their shoulders and carry them over the finish line.

Suck was the case Monday night in Edmonton when the Oilers’ Connor McDavid struck for four goals in an impressive 6-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Oilers inched a bit closer to .600 at 23-24-4 with the win.

Connor McDavid scored four goals in 6-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning Monday night – file photo by Lewis Bleiman

Cam Talbot made 32 saves to get the win.

“Any time the No. 1 team rolls into your building, you need to be up for it and ready to go,” McDavid said. “We have laid a few eggs against teams from the East Coast and we needed to get one against an Eastern team.”

Leon Draisaitl and Iiro Pakarinen also scored for the Oilers.

Alex Killorn and Yanni Gourde had the Tampa goals as they dropped to 36-14-3.

“He’s (McDavid) the best or one of the best with [Sidney] Crosby in the world,” Tampa’s Tyler Johnson said. “He had a heck of a game. He proved his value tonight. We have to do a better job against him though. We have to be better. But you have to give him a lot of credit, he’s a good player.”

[WATCH: All Lightning vs. Oilers highlights]

Andrei Vasilevskiy got the start for the Bolts and made 22 saves but was given the hook after the second intermission.

“It was kind of his (McDavid) night and the fourth goal kind of says it all. But he’s one of the top players in the League. He’s blessed with the speed and the skill and everything you want in a hockey player. He’s got it and he was on tonight. He’s fun to watch,” Tampa head coach Jon Cooper said after the game.

Louis Domingue mopped up in the third and yielded two goals and who made seven saves.