SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) 鈥 The best way for the Edmonton Oilers to shake off a tough loss was to let Connor McDavid take over the game.
One night after his team squandered three separate leads in an , McDavid delivered the kind of performance Edmonton needed.
He scored three goals for his 15th career hat trick and added two assists in a over the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday that moved the Oilers into sole possession of first place in the Pacific Division.
鈥淗e knows our team needed a win,鈥 coach Kris Knoblauch said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e playing a little short-handed and he鈥檚 going to be the guy. Tonight every shift he was really dialed in and played extremely well. I鈥檝e seen him play a lot of good games and that was one of his best.鈥
McDavid was sharp right from the start, scoring a power-play goal on his third shift. He assisted on a power-play goal by Vasily Podkolzin late in the first period and then added two more goals and an assist on his first seven shifts of the second to put away the game.
When McDavid is playing the way he did against the Sharks, the strategy for his teammates is simple.
鈥淕et him the puck,鈥 Oilers defenseman Evan Bouchard said. 鈥淲hen you see him playing the way he was tonight, and honestly, most of the season, you want to get him the puck. He makes things happen when not many other people can.鈥澛
McDavid got the best of his matchup against his Canadian Olympic teammate and fellow , who scored on the power play to give San Jose a 1-0 lead.
McDavid answered that goal less than two minutes later, and the Sharks couldn't slow him down the rest of the night.聽
鈥淗e鈥檚 the best player in the league and he鈥檚 also the fastest so if you don鈥檛 really slow him down or get in his way he鈥檚 just going to skate by you,鈥 Celebrini said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 simple as that. You鈥檝e seen it his whole career. I loved watching it when I was a fan but it鈥檚 super frustrating when you play against it.鈥澛
McDavid's 133 points this season are six more than Tampa Bay's Nikita Kucherov in the race for Art Ross Trophy and the second-most McDavid has had in a season to his 153 in 2022-23.
He needs three goals in the final three games for his second career 50-goal season, although his focus remains on bigger goals. Edmonton is two points ahead of Vegas in the division race, but the Golden Knights have a game in hand.
鈥淲e've got to punch our ticket,鈥 McDavid said. 鈥淲e've got three games left. We've still got to punch our ticket to the playoffs. Those individual things are nice but not at the top of mind.鈥
After making back-to-back trips to the Stanley Cup Final the past two springs, the Oilers have sputtered their way through much of this season. But Edmonton has gone 6-1-1 over the past eight games to move into first place in the Pacific Division.
With high-scoring teammate Leon Draisaitl possibly returning from injury for the start of the postseason, the Oilers are trying to get back into top form in time to make another deep run.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been kind of an up-and-down year for us, honestly,鈥 McDavid said. 鈥淲e still feel like our best hockey is ahead of us. We鈥檙e kind of finding it right now, which is a good time to do it.鈥
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