Draisaitl scores twice as Oilers beat Rangers 3-1 for a season-series sweep

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Leon Draisaitl scored twice, Connor McDavid also had a goal and the Edmonton Oilers held off the New York Rangers 3-1 on Monday night to sweep their season series.

Devon Levi made 28 saves in improving to 8-1-0 for the Oilers (13-3-3), who won 4-1 in New York on Nov. 1.

Jaroslav Chmelar scored a short-handed goal for the Rangers (10-8-1), who had won three straight games. Dylan Garand stopped 17 shots, but gave away the puck to McDavid for an easy, unassisted goal that opened the scoring 6:42 into the first period.

McDavid leads the NHL with 48 points (11 goals, 37 assists). The three-time MVP became the fourth player in league history with a 19-game point streak to begin a season, joining Wayne Gretzky, Dany Heatley and Mats Sundin.

For the first time this season, however, McDavid failed to record an assist — ending his record-setting streak to start a season at 18 games.

Draisaitl scored on a snap shot at 2:59 of the second for a 2-0 lead.

Just more than two minutes later, the Rangers killed off a brief 5-on-3 Edmonton power play and Mika Zibanejad sprung Chmelar on a breakaway as he exited the penalty box. Chmelar beat Levi for his second goal of the season.

New York pulled Garand for an extra skater late in the third and drew a penalty that produced a 6-on-4 advantage. Draisaitl picked off a soft backpass and lofted the puck into an empty net from his own zone for his NHL-best 18th goal.

That extended his goal-scoring streak to four games and his point streak to six.

FLYERS 3, CANUCKS 1

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Michael Bunting and Travis Konecny scored in the first two periods to help Philadelphia beat Vancouver in a matchup of struggling teams.

Travis Sanheim added an empty-net goal for Philadelphia (5-10-5), and Christian Dvorak had two assists. Joseph Woll stopped 18 shots for the Flyers, who were coming off a 4-3 overtime loss Sunday night at Calgary. They had dropped three in a row (0-2-1) and six of seven (1-4-2).

Jonathan Lekkerimaki scored a power-play goal with 7:16 remaining for the Canucks (3-16-1), who have lost six consecutive games. They are 1-15-1 since a 2-1 start.

Vancouver continued to press after Lekkerimaki’s goal but couldn’t find the equalizer. Leevi Merilainen finished with 14 saves.

The Canucks came within inches of tying it on a power play with 5:52 left, but Lekkerimaki’s shot pinged off the crossbar.

Sanheim’s short-handed goal sealed it with 58.3 seconds to play. That was Philadelphia’s first shot on goal in the third period.

SHARKS 3, ISLANDERS 2, SO

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Ivar Stenberg scored the only goal in a shootout that lasted eight rounds, and San Jose beat New York to snap a five-game losing streak.

Tyler Toffoli had a goal and an assist, and Stenberg also scored in regulation for the Sharks (8-11-1). Stenberg has six goals and is tied for the scoring lead among NHL rookies.

Yaroslav Askarov made 30 saves for San Jose.

Ben Hutton and Victor Eklund scored for the Islanders (7-6-4), who have lost four straight games (0-2-2). Ilya Sorokin stopped 37 shots.

Stenberg put the Sharks on the board late in the first period after Toffoli sent a shot toward the net. Stenberg got a piece of the puck to redirect it past Sorokin and tie the game at 1.

San Jose again rallied from a goal down midway through the second when Toffoli’s shot deflected off Islanders defenseman Adam Pelech and into the net. It was Toffoli’s first goal in eight games.

The Associated Press