Connor McDavid scored his 400th and 401st career goals, the first of which gave the Edmonton Oilers the lead for good in a 5-2 win against the Utah Mammoth on Tuesday in Salt Lake City.
Eight seconds after Utah’s Lawson Crouse tied the game 2-2 at 11:59 of the second period, McDavid caught a break on a 2-on-1 and put the puck off the crossbar and in to put the Oilers back on top.
Jack Roslovic also scored twice and Evan Bouchard had three assists for the Oilers (35-28-9, 79 points), who had lost two consecutive games but passed the Vegas Golden Knights for second place in the Pacific Division. Matt Savoie added a goal, and Tristan Jarry made 16 saves.
Alexander Kerfoot scored for the Mammoth (37-29-6, 80 points), who had won three of their previous four games. They still hold the first Western Conference wild-card spot. Vitek Vanecek stopped all 10 shots he faced in relief of Karel Vejmelka, who allowed four goals on 15 shots over the first two periods.
Kerfoot put Utah ahead 1-0 at 11:12 of the first period. Sean Durzi set Kerfoot up with a no-look drop pass, and the center’s snap shot deflected off of Edmonton defenseman Connor Murphy before it coasted over Jarry’s shoulder.
Roslovic tied it 1-1 at 14:27 of the first when Jake Walman set him up on the rush for a wrist shot that went in off the bar. The Oilers outshot the Mammoth 8-3 in the opening frame.
Edmonton grabbed its first lead at 11:24 of the second period. The Oilers were on the penalty kill when Bouchard set Savoie up for a short-handed goal.
Crouse responded to tie the game at 35 seconds later. He received Michael Carcone’s pass off the boards before the power play expired to make it 2-2.
Following McDavid’s goal, Roslovic extended the lead to 4-2 at 15:04 of the middle frame. Zach Hyman’s shot ricocheted off the post, and Roslovic collected the puck to score on the rebound.
McDavid scored into an empty net with eight seconds left in the third period.
