Connor McDavid is pretty good at hockey.
The 21-year-old Edmonton Oilers superstar has been on a tear in recent weeks, scoring seemingly at will despite his team's less-than-stellar record. McDavid continued his torrid form on Thursday against the Ottawa Senators, who were powerless to stop his influence in a 6-2 Edmonton win at the Canadian Tire Centre.
After Oilers forward Drake Caggiula opened the scoring in the first period, McDavid put his name on the score sheet five minutes into the second frame. After receiving a pass in the slot from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, McDavid made no mistake in lifting the puck over Senators goaltender Craig Anderson to double Edmonton's lead.
The 2-0 scoreline would extend nearly five minutes into the third period when Matt Duchene scored Ottawa's first goal of the night and cut the lead in half. Unfortunately for the Senators, Edmonton then proceeded to score three goals in less than two minutes to put the result beyond doubt.
McDavid notched an assist on a Nugent-Hopkins tally at the 4:51 mark of the third before adding a helper on Ty Rattie's goal less than 40 seconds later. Caggiula then scored his second of the night, not assisted by McDavid, before Filip Chlapik got on the board for Ottawa to make the score 5-2.
Before the Senators could start thinking about a comeback, McDavid received a pass from Nugent-Hopkins at the Ottawa blue line and put forth a superb solo effort en route to a nifty shot through Anderson's legs for Edmonton's sixth and final goal of the game.
McDavid's goals Thursday were his 35th and 36th of the season, making him the top single-season marksman in an Oilers uniform since Ryan Smyth tallied 36 in 2005-06. The third-year player now sits on 94 points, just six off his career high of 100 set last season.
Edmonton (33-36-5) is 12th in the Western Conference, while Ottawa (26-36-11) remains second-last in the East and is officially eliminated from playoff contention following Thursday's game.