Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored the only goal of the shootout on Thursday night, and the Oilers beat the Hurricanes 6-5 at Rogers Place. Connor McDavid sent the game to overtime with a late goal, his second of the night. He added three assists for five points, according to the AP report carried by Yahoo Sports. Deadspin described the shootout winner as capping a "special return to the lineup" for Nugent-Hopkins. Its summary cuts off before saying what the return was, and none of the other reports we have explain it, so we won't guess.
The box score shows McDavid was not alone. Leon Draisaitl also had two goals and three assists, so the two combined for 10 points. Sportsnet's highlight package put the pair at "two assists" each, which would add up to eight, not 10. The box score has three assists apiece, matching the 10-point total. Nugent-Hopkins had a goal and an assist in regulation along with the shootout winner, and played 20:58.
The Yahoo/AP piece says McDavid now has "31 points in the first 10 games." Our tables don't match that. They have him at 26 points (6 goals, 20 assists) in 9 games, plus-17, with Edmonton at 8-1. Even on our count, he has scored at nearly three points a game. Draisaitl is at 16 points in 9 games (8 goals, 8 assists, plus-13).
Special teams decided much of this. Edmonton scored on three of its five power plays, and Carolina scored on one of its two. The Hurricanes outshot the Oilers 27-21 and outhit them 30-17. They also had a 3-1 edge on the scoreboard after the first period's tie and a three-goal second, and Edmonton answered with three goals of its own in the third. Sebastian Aho, Jackson Blake, Seth Jarvis, Logan Stankoven and Juuso Valimaki scored for Carolina. Devon Levi stopped 22 of 27 for Edmonton, and Brandon Bussi stopped 16 of 21 for Carolina.
Edmonton leads the Pacific Division at 8-1 and has won three straight, each by at least one goal. It beat Minnesota 4-3 on Tuesday and won 6-2 at Utah last Saturday. Carolina is still first in the Metropolitan at 8-2. It lost in overtime or a shootout after beating Vancouver 6-3 on Tuesday, and it also lost 3-2 at Calgary on Oct. 18.
Sat, Oct 24, 7:00 PM ET
Both teams play again Saturday. Edmonton hosts Toronto, and Carolina is at St. Louis.
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