Connor McDavid makes history as Canucks skid grows — Pacific Division roundup

Tuesday night in the Pacific Division belonged to Edmonton and Vancouver in very different ways: Connor McDavid pushed the record book to new territory while the Canucks’ freefall continued, and San Jose, Seattle, Los Angeles, Vegas and Anaheim all figured in tightly contested games.

Oilers: power play takes over as McDavid sets records

Edmonton tightened its grip on second place in the division with a 4-3 overtime win over the Wild, moving to 15 points in nine games (7-1-1). Sportsnet reports the Oilers leaned on their elite power play for three goals, capped by Evan Bouchard’s pinpoint winner in overtime. Connor McDavid picked up three assists in the victory; according to Sportsnet, that performance made him the fastest player in NHL history to reach 20 assists in a season and gave him an NHL record for assists through a team’s first nine games. Leon Draisaitl scored twice, including a one-timer on a 5-on-3 with 1.8 seconds left in the first period, per Sportsnet. Sportsnet also notes that Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is slated to return Thursday against the Hurricanes.

Canucks: eight straight losses and third-period trouble

The Canucks’ slide reached eight straight defeats with a 6-3 home loss to the Hurricanes, leaving Vancouver sixth in the Pacific at 5 points from 11 games (2-8-1). Sportsnet describes a troubling pattern: the Canucks have been outscored 11-0 in third periods over their last five contests, including Tuesday’s setback against Carolina. Earlier in the night, the club honoured the late John “Cheech” Garrett, as Sportsnet showed Dan Murphy, John Shorthouse and the Canucks paying tribute to the former goalie and long-time colour commentator.

Sharks rally, Kraken survive shootout, Knights stumble, Kings and Ducks edge closer

In Montreal, the Sharks strengthened their hold on fourth place (11 points in 10 games, 5-4-1) with a 4-3 overtime win. Sportsnet and La Presse report that San Jose wiped out a two-goal deficit as Michael Misa and Tyler Toffoli scored in the third period before Macklin Celebrini buried his second of the night in overtime on a 4-on-3 power play created by a costly interference penalty on Canadiens goalie Jakub Dobeš.

Seattle stayed third in the division with 13 points in 10 games (6-3-1) after a 4-3 shootout victory over the Red Wings. According to Sportsnet, Mackie Samoskevich opened the scoring and Bobby McMann provided the shootout winner. At the top of the table, Vegas remains first with 16 points in 11 games (8-3-0) despite a 6-2 loss in Tampa; Sportsnet notes Anthony Cirelli scored twice, Nikita Kucherov had a goal and two assists and Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 32 shots for the Lightning.

At the other end of the standings, Los Angeles finally secured its first win of the season, a 5-2 decision over the Capitals as Adrian Kempe scored twice, according to Sportsnet, moving the Kings to 4 points (1-4-2). Anaheim, fifth with 8 points in nine games (4-5-0), dropped a 3-2 decision on Long Island; Sportsnet reports Ondrej Palat opened the scoring and Simon Holmstrom tallied his fourth of the season to cap the Islanders’ three-goal first period, which stood up as the difference.