Edmonton Oilers extend road-warrior win streak to 5-0 in Utah rematch

The Edmonton Oilers kept the streak alive Saturday.

No, not the one that saw them become the last team in the NHL to suffer a loss in regulation.

That happened the last time they faced the Utah Mammoth, in a 4-2 loss Thursday, in the front half of this home-and-away series.

Saturday’s rematch at Delta Center ended up 6-2 for Edmonton, pushing their record to 6-1-1, and extending their road win streak to a perfect 5-0-0.

With a goal and three assists, McDavid recorded five points in a game for the 16th time, as he is off to the best start of his impressive career, as he has at least a point in all eight games so far.

It started early for him Saturday, scoring the game’s opening goal just 40 seconds in, giving him a share of the franchise record of seven goals in the first minute of a game established by Mark Messier.

McDavid extended his league lead with 23 points (six goals, 17 assists) in eight games, becoming the fastest player to reach the 20-point mark since Mario Lemieux did it in seven games in 1995-96.

He’s on pace for 242 points here in this 84-game season …

A trio of bodies reinforced the Oilers lineup Saturday, led by none other than Zach Hyman.

The top-six forward was playing his first game since the season-opener, before being sidelined for five games with an undisclosed injury.

He was joined by second-line centre Colton Dach, and Jake Walman, who took over on the third defensive pairing from Shakir Mukhamadullin, scratched despite scoring his first goal in an Oilers uniform Thursday.

And the fresh legs gave the Oilers an obvious jump early on in this one. That was even before Hyman followed up McDavid’s opening goal with a power-play marker off a centering feed from his captain, for his first goal of the season.

The score coming into this game was 5-2 when it comes to Oilers starts in the crease this season, with the lion’s share having gone to newcomer Devon Levi out of the gates.

But Tristan Jarry made his third start in eight games, improving to 2-0-1 on the year, as the two ‘tenders dual for starts with free-agent acquisition Frederik Andersen still sidelined by off-season surgery.

Jarry had to come up big, sliding across the crease to stymie a 2-on-1 from Dylan Guenther to Vincent Trocheck five minutes into the second period to maintain a 3-0 lead.

Both of Utah’s goals came in a span of 1:35 in the third period, when Jarry was screened on a slap shot from the point, before having a shot from the slot get deflected high off the back bar on top of the net and hit him in the name plate before bouncing in.

He stopped 26 of 28.

Back at Rogers Place the ice was replaced by an octagon Saturday for UFC Fight Night: Buckley vs. Malott.

But there were a couple of fourth-line heavyweights dropping the gloves in Utah, where it was Trent Frederic vs. Jack McBain, the Mammoth forward who hasn’t pulled any punches when it comes to roughing up Edmonton’s superstars.

It started with McBain landing a trio of right crosses on the mark, before Frederic sent a big right uppercut that separated the helmet from McBain’s head, and following up with two more before it was over. It ended in a split decision with both prize fighters on their feet, but determined by McBain having to pull his sweater down off his head on the way to the penalty box.

All of a sudden, no one is talking about Frederic’s point production (or lack thereof) as the 6-foot-3, 218-pounder is quickly becoming the physical force Oilers fans were hoping for.