McDavid Gets First Hat Trick, Oilers Beat Stars 5-2
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DALLAS (AP) — Connor McDavid got his first career hat trick, helping the Edmonton Oilers beat the Dallas Stars 5-2 on Saturday night to end a five-game skid.
McDavid, the first overall pick in the 2015 draft, ended a 10-game stretch without a goal.
Tyler Pitlick got his sixth goal of the season for Edmonton, and Oscar Klebom also scored. Cam Talbot made 31 saves.
The Oilers led 4-0 early in the second period when Dallas coach Lindy Ruff swapped starting goalie Kari Lehtonen for Antti Niemi.
Patrick Eaves and Jamie Benn scored for Dallas during a 4-minute power play late in the second. Eaves scored in his fifth straight game, the longest streak of his 12-year career.
McDavid, named the NHL's youngest ever captain prior to this season, has eight goals after getting one in each period of this one. It's his second multigoal game this season and fifth in 64 career games.
He finished the hat trick midway through the third period by scooping up a rebound in the left circle and flicking it past a sprawled Niemi.
Anton Slepyshev and Jesse Puljujarvi each had two assists for Edmonton.
McDavid scored unassisted 2:57 in by sending the puck past the goalmouth and in off Dallas defenseman John Klingberg's stick.
Pitlick scored with 8:24 left in the first on a 2-on-1 break, connecting off a pass from Drake Caggiula, who played his first NHL game. Another assist went to Matt Hendricks, playing for the first time since getting a lower-body injury in the preseason.
Edmonton got goals 56 seconds apart in the second to make it 4-0. Klefbom's drive from the left point went in off defenseman Patrick Nemeth's skate at 5:21, and McDavid found himself alone with the puck to the right of the net at 6:17.
Eaves scored unassisted with 4:23 left when his wrist shot went in off a goalpost. About a minute later, Benn tipped in Klingberg's drive from the top of the slot.
Lehtonen made nine saves, and Niemi had 15.
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