Key Takeaways
- The Edmonton Oilers beat the New York Rangers 3–1 at Rogers Place, with Leon Draisaitl scoring twice and Devon Levi making 28 saves to improve to 8-1-0.
- Connor McDavid extended his season-opening point streak to 19 games with an unassisted first-period goal.
- Edmonton (13-3-3) swept the two-game season series; New York (10-8-1) had its three-game win streak snapped.
Two Short-Handed Goals Against, One Long Streak Alive
The Edmonton Oilers beat the New York Rangers 3–1 at Rogers Place on Monday night, and the strangest part of the box score is how Edmonton did it: two of the game's four goals were scored short-handed — one by each team.
Connor McDavid opened the scoring at 6:42 of the first, unassisted, after capitalizing on a misplayed pass by Rangers goalie Dylan Garand behind the net. The goal extended McDavid's season-opening point streak to 19 games — only the fourth such streak in NHL history, after Gretzky, Sundin and Heatley — with 48 points in those 19 games. His 18-game assist streak ended, tied for the second-longest ever.
Leon Draisaitl made it 2–0 at 2:59 of the second, a goal that survived a Rangers goaltender-interference challenge. Jaroslav Chmelar answered short-handed at 5:05, fresh out of the penalty box. Draisaitl closed it at 18:47 of the third with an unassisted short-handed empty-net goal — his second straight two-goal game and sixth goal in a four-game streak. Devon Levi made 28 saves to improve to 8-1-0; Garand stopped 17 of 19. Edmonton improves to 13-3-3 and sweeps the season series; the Rangers fall to 10-8-1, their three-game win streak over.
The Twikup Take
Nineteen games, 48 points, and a point streak matched by three names in history — McDavid's November is doing Gretzky-list things while Draisaitl quietly stacks two-goal nights behind him. The Rangers outshot Edmonton 29–20 and still left with one goal to show for it.
Image: Washington Capitals fall to Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers at Capital One Arena in Washington D.C., Feb. 2, 2022. (Photo by Brian Murphy, All-Pro Reels) by All-Pro Reels, CC BY-SA 2.0.