Pro Sports

Oilers beat Blue Jackets 7-2 behind McDavid, Brassoit

Posted December 12, 2017 6:00 am

By MITCH STACY

Edmonton Oilers players celebrate their goal against the Columbus Blue Jackets during the second period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2017, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete) The Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Connor McDavid had a goal and three assists, and Laurent Brossoit stopped 28 shots as the Edmonton Oilers routed the Columbus Blue Jackets 7-2 on Tuesday night.

Mark Letestu, Matt Benning and Jesse Puljujarvi each had a goal and an assist for the Oilers, who chased Vezina Trophy-winning goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky from the game at the end of the second period.

Brassoit started his seventh game since the injury to No. 1 goalie Cam Talbot last month.

Zack Kassian, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Milan Lucic also scored for Edmonton (13-16-2). McDavid's four points pushed his team-leading season total to 39.

Columbus is battling for Metropolitan Division supremacy but couldn't get on track against the Oilers and didn't make Brossoit work exceptionally hard.

Bobrovsky stopped 21 shots for the Blue Jackets, who lost for the first time in three games and only the fourth time in the last 14.

Backup Joonas Korpisalo played the final period and made 10 saves.

Oliver Bjorkstrand and Jack Johnson scored for Columbus.

The Blue Jackets (10-19-1) struggled to get the puck out of their zone in the early going, and the first period ended with the Oilers up 1-0. Kassian scored his third goal of the season 5:55 into the game when he got a feed from Letestu across the front of the net and an open look from the doorstep.

The Oilers turned it up in the second period.

Nugent-Hopkins got a wide-open look 6:27 in, and he banged it in from the right circle on a power play. Benning added the third goal about 10 minutes later when he snapped in a shot between Bobrovsky's pads from the high slot.

The Oilers scored twice in the last minute of the period. Lucic made it 4-0 when he chipped in another power play goal with 51 seconds left, and Letestu got a short-handed goal on a breakaway with 1 second remaining.

NOTES: McDavid has 16 points in his last 11 games. ... Cam Atkinson, the leading scorer for Columbus last season, was back in the lineup after being a healthy scratch on Saturday. ... The power-play goals by the Oilers were only the third and fourth allowed by the Blue Jackets penalty-kill this season. ... Talbot, the injured Oilers goalie, skated with the team on Tuesday, but a return date has not been set. ... Edmonton F Anton Slepyshev was back in the lineup after being scratched the last four games. He replaced Drake Caggiula.

UP NEXT

Edmonton: Hosts Nashville on Thursday.

Columbus: Hosts the New York Islanders on Thursday.

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More NHL hockey: https://apnews.com/tag/NHLhockey

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Follow Mitch Stacy at https://twitter.com/mitchstacy

Columbus Blue Jackets' Lukas Sedlak, left, of the Czech Republic, tries to control the puck as Edmonton Oilers' Matt Benning defends during the second period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2017, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete) The Associated Press

Columbus Blue Jackets' Brandon Dubinsky, right, carries the puck past Edmonton Oilers' Mark Letestu during the second period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2017, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete) The Associated Press

Columbus Blue Jackets' Artemi Panarin, right, of Russia, keeps the puck away from Edmonton Oilers' Milan Lucic during the first period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2017, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete) The Associated Press

Columbus Blue Jackets' David Savard, left, checks Edmonton Oilers' Jujhar Khaira during the first period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2017, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete) The Associated Press

Columbus Blue Jackets' Markus Nutivaara, left, of Finland, and Edmonton Oilers' Anton Slepyshev, of Russia, fight for a loose puck during the first period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2017, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete) The Associated Press

Columbus Blue Jackets' Markus Nutivaara, left, of Finland, carries the puck away from Edmonton Oilers' Ryan Strome during the first period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2017, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete) The Associated Press

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