McDavid scores twice, Oilers beat Jets to tie for North lead

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Connor McDavid scored twice to close in on the NHL lead and the Edmonton Oilers beat the Winnipeg Jets 2-1 on Thursday night to move into a tie with Toronto for the North Division lead.

McDavid has 20 goals — a goal behind Toronto’s Auston Matthews — and leads the league in points with 58 and assists with 38.

Tyson Barrie assisted on both goals, and Mikko Koskinen made 24 saves to help the Oilers improve to 20-13-0.

Mathieu Perrault scored for the Jets, and Laurent Brossoit made 19 saves. They are two points behind the Oilers and Maple Leafs in the all-Canadian North at 18-10-2.

The teams will complete the series Saturday night.

McDavid opened the scoring at 3:53 of the second period, coming off the bench, picking up the puck along the boards and riffling a shot of the cross bar and in.

Perrault tied it on a tip-in with 7:17 left in the period, and McDavid struck again 38 seconds later when he snapped a shot past Brossoit.

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1of14Edmonton Oilers’ Connor McDavid (97) celebrates his goal against the Winnipeg Jets with Darnell Nurse (25) during the second period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, March 18, 2021, in Edmonton, Alberta. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press via AP)JASON FRANSON/APShow MoreShow Less 2of14Edmonton Oilers’ Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (93) and Winnipeg Jets’ Josh Morrissey (44) compete for the puck during the second period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, March 18, 2021, in Edmonton, Alberta. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press via AP)JASON FRANSON/APShow MoreShow Less 3of14 4of14Edmonton Oilers goalie Mikko Koskinen (19) makes a save against the Winnipeg Jets during the first period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, March 18, 2021, in Edmonton, Alberta. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press via AP)JASON FRANSON/APShow MoreShow Less 5of14Edmonton Oilers’ Jesse Puljujarvi (13) checks Winnipeg Jets’ Dylan DeMelo (2) during the second period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, March 18, 2021, in Edmonton, Alberta. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press via AP)JASON FRANSON/APShow MoreShow Less 6of14 7of14Edmonton Oilers’ Darnell Nurse (25) and Winnipeg Jets’ Blake Wheeler (26) work for the puck in the corner during the first period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, March 18, 2021, in Edmonton, Alberta. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press via AP)JASON FRANSON/APShow MoreShow Less 8of14Edmonton Oilers’ Zack Kassian (44) and Winnipeg Jets’ Logan Stanley (64) rough it up during the second period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, March 18, 2021, in Edmonton, Alberta. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press via AP)JASON FRANSON/APShow MoreShow Less 9of14 10of14Edmonton Oilers’ Ethan Bear (74) and Winnipeg Jets’ Neal Pionk (4) battle for the puck during the second period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, March 18, 2021, in Edmonton, Alberta. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press via AP)JASON FRANSON/APShow MoreShow Less 11of14Edmonton Oilers’ Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (93), Connor McDavid (97) and Leon Draisaitl (29) celebrate a goal against the Winnipeg Jets during the second period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, March 18, 2021, in Edmonton, Alberta. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press via AP)JASON FRANSON/APShow MoreShow Less 12of14 13of14Edmonton Oilers’ Jesse Puljujarvi (13) is stopped by Winnipeg Jets goalie Laurent Brossoit (30) during the second period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, March 18, 2021, in Edmonton, Alberta. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press via AP)JASON FRANSON/APShow MoreShow Less 14of14

The teams were coming off victories Wednesday night, with the Oilers winning 7-3 at Calgary and the Jets beating Montreal 4-3 in overtime in Winnipeg.