In Edmonton, it seemed the Oilers were worn out from raising their arms in goal celebrations on Monday after tow periods.
The Oilers posted four in the opening stanza, and five in the middle frame in a 9-2 thrashing of the San Jose Sharks.
Connor McDavid returned the Oilers bench on Monday after missing three games. He scored once in his return and collected his 100th assist on the season.
“It means a lot. Those three are obviously three of the greatest players to ever play,” McDavid said. “To share a little something with them, it means a lot to me. I’m thankful for my teammates, the staff here in Edmonton, the coaches and everybody.
“I feel very grateful for our staff here in Edmonton and all of the players here. It has been a different type of year, but everybody stuck with it and we’ve put ourselves in a good spot heading into when it matters most.”
The Oilers moved to 49-25-6.
“It is probably the hardest one that he has accomplished,” Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said of McDavid’s 100 assists. “You can’t really be surprised with the things he does every year. It is an amazing accomplishment.
“You probably didn’t think it was possible for it to happen in this day and age, but he keeps surprising you. I am very proud of him.”
Stuart Skinner made 19 saves in the win.
McDavid wasted no time in scoring, with his goal coming with 53 seconds gone in the opening stanza. His attempted pass down low was deflected n for the lead.
Adam Henrique pushed the lead to 2-0 at 4:01, scoring from down low at the crease.
Warren Foegele hit for the first of his double midway through the first for a 3-0 advantage to Edmonton.
Dylan Holloway ballooned the advantage to 4-0 t at 19:35, scoring off a deflection of a shot.
San Jose dropped to 19-53-9, they have one game remaining to be played.
In the middle frame, San Jose got on the board with a marker form Danil Gushchin at 1:58 for a 4-1 score.
Foegele collected his double at at 4:41 for a 5-1 lead to the Oilers.
“I just thought we played like we didn’t want it. We were sitting back, we weren’t playing on our toes, and that obviously hurt us,” Sharks defenseman Mario Ferraro said. “We maybe looked at the lineup at the other end and played scared in the first period, and obviously it was a snowball effect.”
It really just got silly after that.
Corey Perry scored at 10:11 for a 6-1 count.
Cody Ceci abused the Sharks defense again, with a goal from out front at at 13:18 to make it 7-1.
Evan Bouchard got in on the action just 31 seconds later on an odd man rush to make it 8-1.
“You’ve got a team that’s struggling this year, at the end they don’t have a lot of push, and I thought we played a good game, but it’s not a game against a first-round matchup, whether it’s Vegas, L.A., or whoever that might be,” Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said. “Yes, I thought we played really well, but we’re playing against a team that’s not making the playoffs, and we don’t want any false hope.”
Zach Hyman scored off yet another off an rush at 15:35 for 91 count headed to the third period.
Fabian Zetterlund scored a so what goal at 15:29 of the third period for the 9-2 final count on the overworked scoreboard..
Devin Cooley got the start for the Sharks, he yielded eight goals into the middle frame before getting the hook, he made 14 saves.
“Obviously, we didn’t help [Cooley] out at all with the odd-mans, how many looks he was getting the way that we started the game,” Sharks forward Luke Kunin said. “You try to say a few things to him.
“Obviously, he’s a competitive guy as well, and it wasn’t his fault by any means.”
Georgi Romanov made 14 saves in a mop up role in his NHL debut.
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