Connor Versus Connor Round 1: McDavid and Oilers Top Bedard's Blackhawks, 4-1

Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks got off to a flashy start in Edmonton on Tuesday night.

Then Connor McDavid and the Oilers took over and cruised to a 4-1 win, their eighth straight.

Bedard ended a five-game goal-less drought, his longest so far in his 28-game NHL career, when he opened the scoring 3:21 into the game. The NHL's top draft pick of 2023 did have four assist in the span, however, and leads all rookies with 12 goals and 24 points.

McDavid had two terrific assists — setting up Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Zach Hyman to stretch his points streak to 10 games. The NHL's No. 1 draft selection in 2015 – and reigning scoring champ – has six goals and 19 assists in his latest run.

Sam Gagner and Leon Draisaitl also scored for the Oilers. Draisaitl connected in the second period when his centering pass deflected past Petr Mrazek off the stick of Chicago defenseman Nikita Zaitsev.

Edmonton D-man Evan Bouchard had two assists to lengthen his point streak to 12 games, with five goals and 13 assists during the span.

Mrazek finished with 25 saves as Edmonton outshot Chicago 29-22.

After the game, Bedard said getting into a "track meet" with the swift McDavid and the Oilers wasn't good approach for rebuilding Chicago. He also downplayed his snazzy goal. See the video.

Chicago played without top defenseman Seth Jones and fleet rookie rearguard Kevin Korchinski. The Hawks were hurt by a depleted blueline corps in this one as they dropped their second straight after winning back-to-back games for the first time this season.

Jones, who leads the Blackhawks with an average of 25:25 minutes of ice time per game, is sidelined with an upper-body injury suffered Sunday against Washington. The 6-foot-4, 29-year-old D-man remained in Chicago for evaluation.

Korchinski was placed on non-roster last Friday to deal with a family matter. The 19-year-old has shown flashes – and make mistakes –but is third on Chicago with an average of 19:31 of ice time per game.

Chicago's Connor struck first. Bedard gave the Hawks a 1-0 lead with the kind of sneaky-good shot that seems destined to become his trademark.

The rookie entered the zone on the left side, taking Alex Vlasic's long pass. After slipping past Bouchard, Bedard tucked the puck under Mattias Ekholm's stick and popped a rising shot over Stuart Skinner's glove. Teammate Jason Dickinson said the goal was terrific. See video.

McDavid dished to Nugent Hopkins, a No. 1 draft pick back in 2011, to tie it at 9:58. McDavid sped down the left side, then flipped a pass to Nugent-Hopkins who cruised past Lukas Reichel and pitched a shot past Mrazek on the stick side.

Gagner, back with the Oilers for the third time in his career, tapped in the pick from the left edge of the crease with 1:41 left in the first to put Edmonton ahead 2-1. Derek Ryan flipped a quick feed off the backboards to Gagner, who wasn't covered.

Draisaitl upped the lead to 3-1 at 13:29 of the second period on a pass that deflected in off Zaitsev's stick just outside the crease. On the power-play early in the third, McDavid slipped down the left side and fed Hyman for his team-leading 16th goal, a tape-to-tape tap-in.

Blackhawks defenseman Filip Roos, who was just recalled from AHL Rockford, suffered a hand injury in the first period. He went to the dressing room, but returned.

The Blackhawks assigned forward Boris Katchouk to Rockford after the 25-year-old cleared waivers. He had two goals and two assists in 17 games with Chicago this season.