{{pageModel.leagueAbbr}} {{pageModel.subtitle}} | Las Vegas Review-Journal
National Hockey League
Edmonton 5, Vancouver 2
When: 9:00 PM ET, Sunday, April 9, 2017
Where: Rogers Place, Edmonton, Alberta
Referees: Gord Dwyer, Dean Morton
Linesmen: Ryan Galloway, Ryan Gibbons
Attendance: 18347

EDMONTON, Alberta -- The Edmonton Oilers didn't get the first spot in the Pacific Division, but their final game of the regular season still felt like a party.

Connor McDavid hit the 100-point mark, and Jordan Eberle produced a hat trick as the Oilers beat the Vancouver Canucks 5-2 Sunday.

With McDavid entering the game on 98 points, the Canucks knew that the Oilers were going to try every way possible to get him to 100. McDavid could have got there in the first period, but a couple of seeing-eye passes bounced over sticks and he was stopped on a breakaway chance.

"We knew they were going to come hard," said the Canucks' Bo Horvat, who had an assist to raise his team-best points total to 52. "We knew McDavid was going to be pushing for 100 points and I'm sure the whole team wanted to get it for him. I'm sure they wanted to have a good finish to the season, going into the playoffs. They played well tonight."

Laurent Brossoit got his fourth career win, stopping 15 shots. At the other end, the Oilers fired 44 shots on goal, with Richard Bachman stopping 39 of them.

As the Oilers were winning in Edmonton, the Anaheim Ducks (46-23-13) beat the Los Angeles Kings in overtime to clinch first place in the division. The Oilers (47-26-9) finished with 103 points and will play the San Jose Sharks (46-29-7) in the first round of the playoffs, with Edmonton enjoying home-ice advantage. Game 1 is Wednesday on Rogers Place; Game 2 is set for Friday.

On their 14th shot of the opening period, the Oilers broke through at 18:46. With Edmonton enjoying a two-man advantage, Eberle tried to pass the puck across the ice, but it deflected off Canucks defenseman Luca Sbisa and beat Bachman.

Vancouver (30-43-9) tied the game at the two-minute mark of the second period, with Nikolay Goldobin converting a nice cross-ice pass from Daniel Sedin. Henrik Sedin also got an assist, marking the 708th time the Swedish twins have both figured on the same goal.

The Oilers regained the lead at 4:10 with Eberle snapping a shot over Bachman's shoulder.

They made it 3-1 lead at 14:46, with McDavid setting up Drake Caggiula with a deft backhand pass.

Eberle got his hat trick just 31 seconds into the third, banging home a pass from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to make it 4-1.

"Going into the last stretch of the year, the biggest thing on my mind was finishing strong," said Eberle. "So I could help the team get into a playoff position that we liked, but also moving forward to be confident heading into the playoffs. But there is still a lot of work to be done here."

Then, McDavid took care of business, becoming the first Oilers player since Doug Weight in 1995-96 to hit the 100-point mark. The crowd roared with chants of "MVP! MVP!" as Leon Draisaitl was set up by McDavid at 1:50, making it 5-1.

"I just tried to get it into Leon's hands, he was going to make a good play with it," said McDavid, who won the NHL scoring title by 11 points over Penguin Sidney Crosby. "It was not the nicest play I'll make this year, and have made this year, but I'll definitely take it."

"He's been amazing for us all season and something we could do for him was to look for him here and there," said Draisaitl. "Everyone knew where he was at with the points and it is very special for him to get it. We are very happy for him."

Canucks captain Henrik Sedin, a veteran of 105 playoff games, said that McDavid shouldn't be fazed by his first trip to the postseason.

"It's a little bit tougher in the playoffs, but, from what I've seen from him, he's going to handle it more than fine. It's a good team over there, they play well, move the puck well, so, hopefully they'll have a lot of success because it's a fun team to watch."

With the game decided, Canucks forward Nikita Tryamkin got a consolation goal at 2:55 of the third to close out the scoring.

NOTES: Canucks LW Sven Baertschi missed the final weekend of the season with a neck injury. ... Oilers G Cam Talbot finished the season with 42 wins, a franchise high. ... Oilers C Connor McDavid won the scoring title, while RW Leon Draisaitl finished eighth. The last time the Oilers had two players in the top 10 was 1988-89. ... With an eye to the playoffs, the Oilers rested C Mark Letestu, D Darnell Nurse and LW Patrick Maroon. ... The Canucks scratched RW Jack Skille, C Griffen Molino, LW Loui Eriksson, C Joseph Cramarossa, C Brendan Gaunce and LW Yan-Pavel Laplante.
Top Game Performances
 
Vancouver   Edmonton
Nikolay Goldobin 1 Points Jordan Eberle 3
Nikolay Goldobin 1 Goals Jordan Eberle 3
Bo Horvat 1 Assists Connor McDavid 2
N/A Power Play Goals Jordan Eberle 1
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Richard Bachman .886 Save Percentage Laurent Brossoit .882
Richard Bachman 39 Saves Laurent Brossoit 15
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Vancouver 17 2 0-1 4-5 15 37
Edmonton 44 5 1-5 1-1 7 33
Upcoming Games
  • Edmonton will play their next game at home against San Jose. The Oilers have a W/L % of .630 after a win and .500 after a loss.