The center scored twice in less than three minutes of the second period Saturday night, lifting Edmonton to a 4-1 win over the visiting Minnesota Wild at Rogers Place. McDavid also had an assist.

With 33 goals and 51 assists, McDavid is tied for second in the NHL with Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin with 84 points, just three in back of Tampa Bay's Nikita Kucherov. While the Oilers are all but eliminated from playoff contention a year after reaching the Western Conference semifinals, McDavid still might garner some votes for the Hart Trophy.

He certainly did nothing to dissuade that notion at 9:11 of the second with a brilliant individual effort that broke the scoring seal. Taking the puck near the Minnesota blue line, McDavid maneuvered around a defender at the right boards and created a point-blank chance in front of the net.

Devan Dubnyk saved McDavid's initial shot, but the 21-year-old Oilers star captured the rebound in the left circle and snapped it into the open net.

At 12:00, McDavid doubled the lead on the power play. Given time and a clear shooting lane, McDavid took a pass from Andrej Sekera, skated to the top of the right circle and wired a wrister past Dubnyk's blocker.

Goalie Cam Talbot and the Edmonton defense did their share. Talbot made 32 saves, including a dozen in the first period when the Wild owned a clear territorial edge. The Oilers were physical, delivering a whopping 43 hits and blocking 20 shots.

Minnesota missed an opportunity to make up ground on second-place Winnipeg in the Central Division. The Wild could have drawn within four points with a victory, thanks to the Jets' loss in Philadelphia. However, all Minnesota could manage on offense was Charlie Coyle's 10th goal at 9:44 of the third period on a snapper off Tyler Ennis' feed to the right post.

Edmonton wrapped it up in the final 3 1/2 minutes with two goals. Leon Draisaitl scored his 22nd on the power play at 16:25 and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins added his 18th at 17:27, with McDavid picking up a helper.

Dubnyk stopped 24 shots in the losing cause.

--Field Level Media