By Canadian Press

Great night for the Connors in Oilers 4-1 win over Utah

Dec 31, 2024 | 10:49 PM

EDMONTON — Connor McDavid and Connor Brown each recorded a pair of assists as the Edmonton Oilers snapped a two-game losing skid with a 4-1 victory over the Utah Hockey Club on Tuesday.

Mattias Ekholm, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Troy Stecher and Leon Draisaitl scored for the Oilers (22-12-3) who have won eight of their last 11 and 12 of their last 16.

Jack McBain replied for Utah (16-15-6), which has now lost five straight. Leading scorer Clayton Keller was a late scratch for the contest.

Stuart Skinner was tasked to make 26 stops in net for the Oilers, while rookie goalie Jaxson Stauber recorded 34 saves in the loss for Utah, playing in just his 10th NHL game.

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Utah: Logan Cooley picked up an assist to give him points in eight of his last nine games and 15 of his last 18. It also extended his road point streak to 11 games, the longest active road point streak in the NHL. The 20-year-old American, who finished fifth in Calder Trophy voting last year, is now second in team scoring with 33 points.

Oilers: With his two assists, McDavid extended his points streak to 12 games, recording 23 points in that span. It is the 14th time that McDavid has had a streak of 11 games or more, hitting his personal best of 17 in 2022. After what could be considered a slow start by his standards, McDavid has now registered 44 points in 24 games since Nov. 6, leading all players in scoring in that span. He now has 1,036 career points, moving him ahead of Mark Messier into third place in Oilers franchise all-time scoring. Draisaitl also extended his points streak to 12 games with his league-leading 27th goal, moving him into a tie for fifth place in Oilers history with Glenn Anderson.

KEY MOMENT

The Oilers took a 3-1 lead with goals coming just 20 seconds apart early in the second period. Before the five-minute mark of the middle frame, Edmonton executed a nice three-way passing play with McDavid sending it across to Nugent-Hopkins, who had an easy tap-in for his eighth of the season. Then before that goal could be announced, Connor Brown dropped it back to Stecher, who scored his third of the campaign off of defender Vladislav Kolyachonok and past Stauber in the Utah net.

KEY STAT

Oiler Connor Brown picked up assists on both early-second period goals, giving him 10 points in his last nine games. The 30-year-old Toronto native now has 16 points on the year after recording just 12 points in 71 games last season.

UP NEXT

Utah: Visits the Calgary Flames on Thursday.

Oilers: Host the Anaheim Ducks on Friday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 31, 2024.

Shane Jones, The Canadian Press