McDavid leads Oilers past Bedard, Blackhawks
EDMONTON, Alberta — Connor McDavid had two assists and the streaking Edmonton Oilers overcame an early goal by rookie Connor Bedard to beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-1 on Tuesday night in the first NHL matchup between the young stars.
McDavid, a three-time MVP, was the No. 1 draft pick in 2015. Bedard was selected first this past summer.
“The first (period) was not bad, but when you kind of keep it a track meet against them it’s obviously hard with those guys,” Bedard said. “We created a bit and I thought it wasn’t terrible, but definitely some things to clean up.”
Sam Gagner had a goal and an assist in the highly anticipated “Clash of the Connors,” helping the Oilers (13-12-1) win their eighth game in a row. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Leon Draisaitl and Zach Hyman also scored for Edmonton, and defenseman Evan Bouchard added a pair of assists.
“Anytime you win it is fun, and it is fun doing it the right way, with the goals against and limiting chances and things like that,” Hyman said. “That’s the key to success and is something we have harped on and is the reason we are on this little run.”
Stuart Skinner made 22 saves for his seventh consecutive victory in net.
“I’ve seen him be able to absorb the spotlight and put any distractions behind him,” Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said. “From what I’ve seen here, he looks like an elite goalie. I can see why he had the season he did last year and he’s come up with some really big saves for us during this stretch.”
Bedard gave the banged-up Blackhawks (9-18-1) a 1-0 lead with his 12th goal 3:21 into the first period, but Chicago lost its seventh consecutive road game.
The 18-year-old center scored on the second shot of the night. He took a long pass from Alex Vlasic for a partial breakaway and unleashed a deceptive shot that beat Skinner glove-side to the top corner.
“He made a really nice move, a very quick release,” Skinner said. “He placed it really well, too. It’s pretty hard to move it that fast and still pick a corner.”
Another top overall draft pick tied the game midway through the opening period as Nugent-Hopkins took a saucer pass on a give-and-go with McDavid and beat Blackhawks goalie Petr Mrazek for his sixth of the season.
McDavid extended his point streak to 10 games, and Bouchard got the secondary assist to stretch his point streak to 12 games. It is the second-longest run by a defenseman in Oilers history.
Edmonton took the lead with 1:41 to play in the first as Derek Ryan sent a backhand pass from behind the net to Gagner, who chipped it in for his fourth goal.
The Oilers got a gift with 6:36 remaining in the second when Chicago defender Nikita Zaitsev deflected Draisaitl’s pass into his own net. The goal was Draisaitl’s 12th of the season.
Edmonton made it 4-1 just 43 seconds into the third with a power-play goal. Hyman had an easy tap-in of a perfectly placed feed from McDavid for his 16th goal.
“I thought we did a pretty good job,” Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson said. “If you take the goal that went in off of Zaitsev’s stick and you take away their power-play goal, I thought we were right in that game.”
Tulane coach Jon Sumrall has emerged as the clear favorite to be the next head coach of the Florida Gators, sources told ESPN’s Pete Thamel.
Florida turned its attention away from Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin earlier this week after getting the sense through irregular communication that he is interested in other options, likely a move to LSU or remaining with the Rebels, sources told ESPN on Friday.
Sumrall is expected to make a decision on his future by Sunday morning as he considers staying at Tulane or a move to Gainesville. He also received significant interest from Auburn, but the Tigers have since shifted their focus to other candidates, another indicator that Florida looms as the clear leader for Sumrall’s services, sources said.
Sumrall, a former SEC player at Kentucky, where he later served as an assistant coach and co-defensive coordinator, is 18-7 in two seasons at Tulane. He also won back-to-back Sun Belt titles as head coach at Troy in 2022 and 2023.
Sumrall, 43, garnered outside interest after his first season with Tulane, earning a contract extension after just one season at the helm.
Tulane (9-2) hosts Charlotte on Saturday night in its regular-season finale. The Green Wave can clinch a spot in the American Conference championship game against North Texas with a win over the 49ers.
Rivalry Week has already seen one upset that will affect a conference championship and College Football Playoff seeding. Could we see another one?
On Friday, Texas upset the Texas A&M Aggies to give A&M its first loss of the season and knock the Aggies out of the SEC championship game. Michigan is in a strikingly similar position. Ohio State is undefeated and No. 1 in the CFP rankings. It needs a win to set up a meeting with Indiana in next week’s Big Ten title game.
OSU has been largely unchallenged since defeating Texas in Week 1, and now it faces its biggest rival, which is hasn’t beaten in four years. Can the Wolverines pull another upset? It’s “The Game,” and we’re tracking the top moments and biggest plays:
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