Oilers vs. Sharks: Connor McDavid Sets Up Vasily Podkolzin as Edmonton Wins Fourth Straight

For 43 minutes, this was a one-goal grind, exactly the kind of game San Jose wanted. Then Connor McDavid found an extra gear down the left wing, slid the puck to Vasily Podkolzin at the top of the slot, and Podkolzin's one-timer beat Yaroslav Askarov to the glove side. One rush, one touch, one very bad afternoon for the Sharks' game plan.

That goal, 3:13 into the third period, cracked open a tight game, and the Edmonton Oilers went on to beat the San Jose Sharks 3-1 on Saturday afternoon at SAP Center. It was Edmonton's fourth straight win, and McDavid and Podkolzin each stretched their season-opening point streaks to five games.

A Grinder in the Valley

This was no repeat of the 9-7 track meet Edmonton won in Vancouver earlier this month. The teams combined for just 40 shots, split evenly at 20 apiece, and the first two periods went by without a single penalty. San Jose finished with a 34-24 edge in hits and spent most of the afternoon clogging the middle of the ice.

Edmonton's only goal through 40 minutes came from the blue line. At 12:37 of the first, Isaac Howard worked the puck off the right-wing boards to Mattias Ekholm at the point, and Ekholm's slap shot sailed over Askarov's glove with traffic in front. Josh Samanski picked up the second assist.

That 1-0 score held through the second period, which tells you how locked in both goalies were and how little room there was to breathe. San Jose coach Ryan Warsofsky liked a lot of what he saw from his group early. "We made one mistake and it was in the back of our net," he said, per the NHL's recap.

The Turning Point: 2:27 That Ended the Suspense

The third opened with Kiefer Sherwood going off for interference against Leon Draisaitl 22 seconds in. Edmonton came up empty on the power play, but less than a minute after it expired, the Oilers struck anyway.

Then came the McDavid rush. He motored down the left side, Podkolzin slid into the slot, and Podkolzin did not miss. Evan Bouchard grabbed the second assist on Podkolzin's fifth of the season.

Before the Sharks could regroup, it was 3-0. At 5:40, Mathieu Joseph fed Alex Formenton on the rush, and Formenton cut in and lifted a backhand over Askarov's left pad for his first goal as an Oiler. Connor Murphy also assisted. Two goals in 2:27 turned a nervy one-goal game into a comfortable cushion.

San Jose did find a spark. Macklin Celebrini, back in the lineup after missing two games with a lower-body injury, won a puck along the left wall, and Michael Misa pushed it back to him at the top of the left circle. The captain ripped a wrist shot from the dot at 11:19 for his first goal of the season. San Jose pulled Askarov late and got a power play when Podkolzin was called for slashing at 17:13, but Tristan Jarry closed the door.

"I think we played a simple game," Jarry said, adding that when the Sharks clogged the middle, "we weren't getting frustrated with it and it shows a lot of character."

McDavid Keeps Stacking, Bouchard Keeps Making History

McDavid only had one assist, but it was the one that mattered. It was his 10th assist and 13th point of the season, and the AP noted it moved him ahead of Jack Eichel for the league lead in both categories. He has 3 goals and 10 assists during the five-game point streak and logged 24:04.

Podkolzin has 5 goals and 2 assists during his own five-game run, and he played 20:48 with three hits. He knows exactly who he has been riding shotgun with. "It's a super privilege and unique situation for every player," Podkolzin said, adding that McDavid and Draisaitl "make me better every day and I am so grateful for that."

Bouchard might be the most absurd stat line in this one. His assist gave him 12 points, six goals and six assists, and per the NHL he is only the third defenseman in league history with at least a dozen points through his first five games of a season. The other two are Harry Cameron in 1917-18 and Morgan Rielly in 2018-19. That is a list you do not stumble onto.

Jarry made 19 saves on 20 shots, and Formenton had a goal, four hits and three blocked shots in 14:02.

For San Jose, Celebrini scored in 21:59, and Askarov made 17 saves on 20 shots. Darnell Nurse, facing the Oilers for the first time since they traded him to San Jose on July 1 after his first 12 NHL seasons in Edmonton, had five shots on goal and finished minus-1 in 21:56. "It was odd. Never been through that before, but preparation is no different," Nurse said. "It was a fun game to play in. Want a different result."

Stats That Matter

• 20-20: Shots on goal. Edmonton simply cashed more of them.
• 2:27: The gap between Podkolzin's and Formenton's third-period goals.
• 31-22: Edmonton's faceoff edge, 58.5 percent.
• 0: Penalties called in the first two periods.
• 12: Bouchard's points through five games, matching a pace only two other defensemen in NHL history have reached.

What It Means

Edmonton improves to 4-0-1 with nine points and is 3-0-0 on the road. Per the NHL, this is just the sixth time in franchise history the Oilers have opened a season with a five-game point streak, and the first since 2021-22. Coach Mike Babcock pointed to his team's composure. "I just liked that we stayed patient," Babcock said. "I thought we had to do it the hard way." The Oilers visit Los Angeles on Tuesday night.

San Jose falls to 3-2-0, two days after a 3-2 overtime win at St. Louis. Getting Celebrini back and on the scoresheet is the headline for the Sharks, and the structure held up for long stretches against a team that came in on a three-game winning streak. The Sharks host Boston on Tuesday night.

Closing Take

San Jose played this like a heist movie: stay quiet, stay patient, wait for the one opening. Problem is, the other team had McDavid, and he only needs one opening himself. Podkolzin is living every winger's dream right now, and Bouchard is putting up numbers that look like a typo. Five games in, the Oilers have yet to lose in regulation, and now they have proved they can win ugly, too.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Game details from the Associated Press; postgame quotes and game notes as reported by NHL.com.