McDavid’s four points help Oilers top Penguins, clinch second in Pacific

PITTSBURGH — Connor McDavid had a goal and three assists, helping the Edmonton Oilers clinch second place in the Pacific Division with a 5-1 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena on Tuesday. 

Evander Kane had a goal and an assist for the Oilers (47-27-6), who have won five of six. Mike Smith made 33 saves and won his 10th straight start.

Edmonton will face the third-place Los Angeles Kings in the Western Conference First Round and have home-ice advantage. The Kings clinched a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Tuesday when the Dallas Stars defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 3-2 in the shootout.

“Starting on home ice, I think we’re excited about it,” Edmonton coach Jay Woodcroft said. “It’s a credit to our players’ hard work because it wasn’t easy to secure that.”

Jeff Carter scored, and Casey DeSmith made 37 saves for the Penguins (45-25-11), who have been outscored 9-2 in losing two straight. Sidney Crosby was held without a point for the second time in eight games.

Pittsburgh remained one point ahead of the Washington Capitals for third in the Metropolitan Division and has one game remaining; Washington has two. The Capitals lost 4-1 to the New York Islanders on Tuesday.

“Obviously, we’d like to feel better about our game,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “It’s hard to feel good about your game unless you get results. We’ve been sporadic with it lately. But for me, I still believe in this group. I believe we have what it takes.

“We’ve shown an ability to be a really good hockey team. That’s what we have to capture. We’ll fight every day to make sure we do that.”

Video: EDM@PIT: McDavid works around zone, picks top corner

Evan Bouchard gave the Oilers a 1-0 lead at 12:47 of the first period. He took a pass from McDavid before skating to the top of the right face-off circle for a wrist shot.

“That was big for us. We really wanted home-ice advantage,” Bouchard said. “I think it’s huge for us going into the playoffs. To play a game like that against a team like that, I think it was awesome.”

Bouchard had a goal overturned at 1:58 of the second period when the Penguins challenged for offside.

Carter tied it 1-1 at 5:23, chipping in a shot past a diving Smith after a slap shot from Mike Matheson bounced off the end boards.

“Confidence is not going to just come all of a sudden,” Pittsburgh defenseman Marcus Pettersson said. “I think when you put a couple of shifts together in the game, you get confidence that way. I think we’ve got to do that in the last game (against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday) and really find it. Because we know we have it in the room.”

Kane answered 25 seconds later, putting Edmonton in front 2-1 at 5:48. He took a one-timer set up by a backhand pass through the slot from Kailer Yamamoto for his sixth goal in four games.

Zach Hyman made it 3-1 with a power-play goal at 4:08 of the third period, scoring from just outside the crease on the rebound of a Ryan Nugent-Hopkins shot.

McDavid pushed the lead to 4-1 at 9:13, skating through the left circle past Carter before scoring on a wrist shot from a sharp angle. He has 12 points (two goals, 10 assists) in his past four games and leads the NHL with 122 points (44 goals, 78 assists).

“Quiet four-point night? Loud four-point night? I don’t know. It’s just normal, right?” Hyman said of McDavid. “Just such a dynamic player. Best player in the world, right? So that’s what you expect and that’s what you get. I’m glad he’s with us. I’m glad I’m here.”

Video: EDM@PIT: Kane retakes lead :25 after Carter’s goal

Zack Kassian scored an empty-net goal for the 5-1 final at 18:26. It was his first goal in 29 games since Jan. 15.

“We know we’re a good team,” Penguins forward Kasperi Kapanen said. “Good teams have bad games, and today was one of those. It’s not an excuse. We’ve still got one more game. We’ve got to play well then and get some confidence going.”

NOTES: McDavid has 18 points (five goals, 13 assists) in nine games against the Penguins with Crosby in the lineup. Crosby has five points (two goals, three assists), and Pittsburgh has won seven of the nine games. … Edmonton won both games against Pittsburgh this season (5-2 on Dec. 1). … Penguins forward Jason Zucker left with a lower-body injury at 17:36 of the first period. There was no update. … Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse missed a second straight game with a lower-body injury. He has not been ruled out for Edmonton’s final two games, against the San Jose Sharks on Thursday and the Vancouver Canucks on Friday. … Pittsburgh was 0-for-4 on the power play. It has failed to score on 26 of 28 chances in 12 games since scoring at least one power-play goal in six straight from March 22-31.