Oilers cruise past Pens, 5-1

In Pittsburgh, Connor McDavid had a goal and four points on Tuesday night to help the Edmonton Oilers cruised past the Penguins, 5-1.

The victory clinched second place in the Pacific Division for Edmonton.

“Starting on home ice, I think we’re excited about it,” Edmonton coach Jay Woodcroft said. “It’s a credit to our players’ hard work because it wasn’t easy to secure that.”

Mike Smith made 33 saves in the Oilers win.

Jeff Carter had the only Pens’ only goal.

“Obviously, we’d like to feel better about our game,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “It’s hard to feel good about your game unless you get results. We’ve been sporadic with it lately. But for me, I still believe in this group. I believe we have what it takes.

“We’ve shown an ability to be a really good hockey team. That’s what we have to capture. We’ll fight every day to make sure we do that.

Evander Kane also scored for the Oilers.

“Confidence is not going to just come all of a sudden,” Pittsburgh’s Marcus Pettersson said. “I think when you put a couple of shifts together in the game, you get confidence that way. I think we’ve got to do that in the last game (against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday) and really find it. Because we know we have it in the room.”

Edmonton improved to 47-27-6.

Evan Bouchard scored to give the Oilers a 1-0 lead, Carter tied it, 1-1.

“That was big for us. We really wanted home-ice advantage,” Bouchard said. “I think it’s huge for us going into the playoffs. To play a game like that against a team like that, I think it was awesome.”

The tie lasted 25 seconds before Kane put the Oilers ahead for good, 2-1.

Zach Hyman scored off the power play in the third period to give the Oilers a 3-1 lead, McDavid pushed the lead to 4-1..

“Quiet four-point night? Loud four-point night? I don’t know. It’s just normal, right?” Hyman said of McDavid. “Just such a dynamic player. Best player in the world, right? So that’s what you expect and that’s what you get. I’m glad he’s with us. I’m glad I’m here.”

Derick Brassard hit for an empty net goal for the 5-1 final.

“We know we’re a good team,” the Penguins’ Kasperi Kapanen said. “Good teams have bad games, and today was one of those. It’s not an excuse. We’ve still got one more game. We’ve got to play well then and get some confidence going.”

Casey DeSmith made 37 saves in the Pens loss.