McDavid and Oilers Beat Laine and Jets for the Second Time This Season

The Edmonton Oilers and Winnipeg Jets faced off against each other December 1st for the second time this season in a matchup of two of the NHL’s top young players in Connor McDavid of Edmonton and Patrik Laine of Winnipeg. The teams met in Winnipeg on October 23rd in an outdoor game with the Oilers winning 3-0. This return to Winnipeg was played indoors, and both players made contributions to their team’s causes as the Oilers again were victorious, this time by a score of 6-3.

McDavid, who turns 20 next month, had three assists in the victory. Through games of December 1st, McDavid leads the NHL in points with 34, six more than Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov. McDavid, the top pick in the 2015 NHL draft, has 11 goals and 23 assists. In his rookie season last year, he had 16 goals and 32 assists in 45 games played. Laine, who won’t turn 19 until April, scored two goals for the Jets, giving him 15 for the season, second only to Sidney Crosby’s 16. Laine, a rookie who was the #2 overall pick in the 2016 draft, also has six assists.

The next game between these two excellent young players is on December 11th in Edmonton. Though the NHL regular season runs another four months, the December 11th matchup is the final regular season game between the two teams. Perhaps we’ll see them face off against each other in the playoffs.