Oilers vs. Mammoth: Connor McDavid's Five-Point Night Powers a 6-2 Rout in Utah

Forty seconds. That is how long Connor McDavid needed to remind the Utah Mammoth that beating Edmonton on Thursday came with a bill.

McDavid scored twice and set up three more, Leon Draisaitl had a goal and an assist, and the Edmonton Oilers hammered the Mammoth 6-2 at Delta Center on Saturday night to split the home-and-home. Two nights after Utah handed Edmonton its first regulation loss of the season, 4-2, the Oilers chased Karel Vejmelka before the second period was over.

McDavid Lights the Fuse

The opening goal was pure McDavid. Draisaitl sprung him on a breakaway, and instead of going straight in, McDavid swung wide through the left circle, cut across the slot and slid a backhand around Vejmelka's left pad at 0:40. NHL.com noted it was his seventh career goal in the opening minute of a game, matching the franchise record set by Mark Messier. Fine company.

Edmonton then turned 32 seconds into a knockout sequence. Kailer Yamamoto was called for interference at 13:13, and eight seconds into the power play, Zach Hyman jammed home a McDavid centering pass that had deflected off Mikhail Sergachev's skate. It was Hyman's first goal of the season and his first game back since the opener after missing six games with an undisclosed injury.

"For whatever reason, I find it hard to score the first one every year, so it's nice to get one out of the way early," Hyman said.

At 13:53, Mathieu Joseph made it 3-0. Utah defenseman Dmitri Simashev misplayed the puck off a faceoff in the Edmonton end, and Joseph took off alone and tucked it under Vejmelka's glove. Before the period ended, Trent Frederic and Jack McBain dropped the gloves at 16:18 and each took a fighting major.

The Turning Point: Two Breakaways Before the Hook

If Utah had any hope of a comeback, it needed Vejmelka to steal the second. He did stop Joseph on another breakaway early in the period. Then Kasperi Kapanen pounced on a rebound from an Evan Bouchard point shot that glanced off McDavid and ripped it off the crossbar and in at 10:57 for a 4-0 lead.

The dagger came at 13:48. Nate Schmidt coughed up the puck in the Edmonton zone, McDavid sent Draisaitl away, and Draisaitl went in alone and went five-hole for a 5-0 lead. Utah coach Andre Tourigny pulled Vejmelka on the spot and sent in Sebastian Cossa.

"We knew it would be challenging, they will be ready on the other side," Tourigny said. "I didn't like our compete at all in our battles."

Utah did push in the third. John Marino ripped a slap shot through a screen and over Tristan Jarry's blocker at 4:25, and 95 seconds later Sergachev's shot from the slot ticked high off the top of the net, bounced off Jarry's back and dropped in to make it 5-2. Then McDavid shut the door himself, poking the puck away from Marino in the neutral zone and finishing his own breakaway at 10:17.

The Best Player in the World, Per the Opponent

Connor McDavid finished with two goals, three assists and a plus-4 in 19:52. He now leads the NHL with 23 points (six goals, 17 assists) and has a point in all eight games. NHL.com noted he tied Mario Lemieux (1995-96) and Wayne Gretzky (1986-87) for the most assists through a player's first eight games of a season in NHL history, and that only Lemieux, who did it in seven games in 1995-96, reached 20 points faster. That is the hockey version of being compared to LeBron and Jordan in the same sentence.

Even Utah's defense corps admitted it. "(McDavid is) the best player in the world," Sergachev said. "You need to be ready because he can do some magic there."

Teammates are just as blown away. "It's crazy. He's flying," Hyman said. "It looks like he's hit another gear this year, finishing like crazy."

Leon Draisaitl scored for the third straight game, finishing with a goal, an assist and a plus-4.

Vasily Podkolzin collected two assists on the first two goals, and Evan Bouchard added an assist to stretch his point streak to five games. NHL.com said he leads all NHL defensemen with 16 points.

Tristan Jarry made 26 saves, and the Oilers killed both Utah power plays. Coach Mike Babcock singled that out. "I thought our penalty kill was outstanding tonight," he said.

Stats That Matter

• Shots: Utah outshot Edmonton 28-21 and lost by four. Finishing beats volume.
• Hits: Utah threw 39 to Edmonton's 24, which did nothing to slow down McDavid.
• Vejmelka: five goals allowed on 17 shots before the hook. Cossa stopped three of four in relief.
• Special teams: Edmonton went 1-for-1 on the power play and 2-for-2 on the kill.
• Scoring pace: NHL.com said the Oilers now lead the league at 4.63 goals per game and have scored at least five in four of their eight games.

What It Means

Edmonton improves to 6-1-1 with 13 points and has won six of seven. They pushed their season-long road winning streak to 5-0-0, a franchise best according to NHL.com, and now head back to Edmonton for a five-game homestand that begins Tuesday against Minnesota. Babcock loved the response. "They had just beaten us, we're in their building on a Saturday night," he said. "So, anytime somebody beats you and you're playing someone back to back, you've got to get to another level the next game and we clearly did that."

Utah falls to 6-3-0, and a three-game winning streak ends in a hurry. Forward Lawson Crouse framed it as a choice. "It's a decision to go out there, play fast, play to our identity and win battles," he said. The Mammoth host Pittsburgh on Monday.

Closing Take

Babcock summed up the whole operation in one line: "it's impossible to coach a team when your best player isn't driving, and this guy's driving." Right now McDavid is not just driving. He is doing donuts in the parking lot while the rest of the league tries to find the keys. Utah won Round 1 of this home-and-home. Round 2 was a reminder of who still owns the conference's loudest engine.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Postgame quotes and notes from NHL.com; additional reporting from the Associated Press.