Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid believes his team is ramping up and they will be playing their best hockey when the playoffs begin on April 18. If actions speak louder than words, McDavid’s performance last night in San Jose suggested he could be right.

McDavid dominated the Sharks offensively, while his teammates suffocated the Sharks defensively. The Oilers allowed a season-low 14 shots against in a must-win game for San Jose. It was an impressive performance in all three zones.

McDavid produced the 14th five-point night of his career, tying Jari Kurri for second most in Oilers history, and he tallied his 15th career hat trick. McDavid now has 47 goals and 133 points this season. He joined an exclusive group of players with this third season with 130 points.

Jason Gregor

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Players with three 130 point seasons: Gretzky (13x) Lemieux (6x) Esposito (4x) McDavid and Dionne (3)

3:07 AM · Apr 9, 2026

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McDavid needs seven points in his final three games to become only the fourth player with multiple 140 point seasons.

What was impressive about last night was while McDavid was devouring the Sharks, his teammates were matching his offensive brilliance with a staunch defensive effort. When the Oilers commit to playing sound defensively, they are tough to beat. Since returning from the Olympic break the Oilers are 12-7-2. They sit 10th in points percentage at .619 and the only playoff teams in the Western Conference with a better record since the break are Colorado (14-7-1) and Dallas (12-6-3). The Oilers have played well, despite struggling with consistency.

We’ve seen them look lost defensively one night, but then the next game they play focused and committed and give up very little.

In their first game after the Olympic break, they lost 6-5 to Anaheim, before smothering Los Angeles 8-1 the next night. They lost 6-3 to Carolina on March 6 and then shut down Vegas 4-2 on March 8. Tuesday in Utah they surrendered six goals, many due to brutal giveaways, but they rebounded and managed the puck with pinpoint precision in San Jose.

The Oilers are 6-2 in their last eight games.........

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