McDavid, Oilers hammer Senators 6-2

Connor McDavid netted two goals and two assists, Drake Caggiula scored twice and goalie Cam Talbot made 33 saves as the Edmonton Oilers blasted the Ottawa Senators 6-2 Thursday night in Ottawa.

McDavid is up to 94 points, one back of league-leader Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Art Ross Trophy race, and he was at his best at the Canadian Tire Centre on a night the Senators were officially eliminated from playoff contention.

McDavid had a big hand in putting the game out of reach early in the third period, in which the Oilers scored three times in a 1:43 span. Just eight seconds after Ottawa's Matt Duchene put the hosts on the board to cut Edmonton's lead to 2-1, McDavid set up Ryan Nugent-Hopkins off the rush following the faceoff to restore Edmonton's two-goal edge.

The public address announcer barely had time to relay the details on that goal before McDavid set up Ty Rattie at 5:29 of the third period. Rattie had an assist earlier.

Then Gaggiula netted his second of the game with a power-play marker at 6:34 of the third period.

Ottawa's Filip Chlapik scored his first career goal at 14:23 of the 1980s-style third period -- a tally on which Bobby Ryan collected an assist for his 500th career point -- but McDavid collected his second goal of the night and 36th of the season with 3:20 remaining on the clock to round out the scoring.

McDavid -- who became the first Oilers skater to record consecutive 90-point seasons since Mark Messier and Jari Kurri had a run that ended in 1989-90 -- has 25 points in his last 16 games (11-14-25) and 21 goals in his last 25 outings.

Caggiula opened the scoring 8:23 into the clash by pouncing on a loose puck after Ottawa goalie Craig Anderson wasn't able to gather a rebound.

McDavid doubled the lead at 5:10 of the second period, converting a fantastic pass from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who had a three-point game.

Anderson stopped 32 shots for the Senators, who were without star defenseman Erik Karlsson, who has left the team due to the death of his son.

--Field Level Media