Connor McDavid extends his assist streak to 14 games as the Oilers beat the Islanders 4-0

NEW YORK (AP) — Connor McDavid extended his NHL-record season-opening assist streak to 14 games by setting up Ryan Nugent-Hopkins’ second goal, and the Edmonton Oilers opened their road trip by beating the New York Islanders 4-0 on Saturday.

Nugent-Hopkins scored on a power play in the third period to give McDavid his league-best 29th assist. McDavid has a big lead in points with 37 and is on pace for more than 200.

Longtime running mate Leon Draisaitl recorded a pair of assists, including a perfect skate-to-stick exchange that led to Vasily Podkolzin putting the puck into a wide open net. Ilya Sorokin similarly had little chance on Nugent-Hopkins’ shot from point-blank range off a feed from Kasperi Kapanen 68 seconds earlier.

Edmonton’s Tristan Jarry stopped all 18 shots he faced for a second consecutive shutout, and Jason Dickinson scored into an empty net to seal the victory. The Oilers have won 10 of their first 14 games this season, their first with Mike Babcock as coach.

Despite 20 saves from Sorokin, the Islanders’ winning streak ended at two games, with top defenseman Matthew Schaefer getting whistled for two of the team’s five minor penalties. Forward Emil Heineman was ejected less than 2 1/2 minutes in for a knee-on-knee hit that injured Isaac Howard, who put no weight on his left leg as he was helped off the ice and did not return.

New York was without defenseman Ryan Pulock, who was seeing a doctor after leaving Thursday night at Minnesota with what the team called an upper-body injury.

Up next

Oilers: Make their second stop on a three-game visit to the area by playing at the New York Rangers on Sunday.

Islanders: After some time off, host the defending Stanley Cup-champion Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night.

___

See AP’s full NHL coverage here

Stephen Whyno, The Associated Press