It was McDavid’s second hat trick of the season and 14th of his career. He has 39 points (17 goals, 22 assists) during his streak.
Leon Draisaitl had a goal and two assists, and Kasperi Kapanen had a goal and an assist for the Oilers (21-16-6), who had lost two in a row and three of their past four. Vasily Podkolzin had two assists, and Connor Ingram made 24 saves.
Ryan O’Reilly and Nick Blankenburg scored for the Predators (19-19-4), who have lost two of three and ended a seven-game road trip 4-3-0. Juuse Saros made 37 saves.
McDavid gave the Oilers a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 8:53 of the first period. He maneuvered around O’Reilly through the left face-off circle and deked to his forehand around the right pad of Saros to tuck the puck into an open net.
McDavid pushed it to 2-0 when he scored on a penalty shot at 15:53 of the second period, lifting a shot over the blocker of Saros from in tight.
The goal was McDavid’s 27th of the season (43 games). He scored 26 goals in 67 games last season.
Lazar extended the lead to 3-0 just 22 seconds later when he backhanded in a rebound from the slot through traffic at 16:15.
Kapanen scored his first of the season in just his seventh game at 18:52 when his wrist shot from in front deflected in off of Predators defenseman Roman Josi. Kapanen had not played since Oct. 19, missing the past 36 games with a lower-body injury.
O’Reilly cut the deficit to 4-1 at 3:48 of the third period, sliding a rebound from a Nic Hague point shot past Ingram’s right pad.
Blankenburg brough Nashville to within 4-2 just 15 seconds later at 4:03 when his long-distance one-timer off a Reid Schaefer pass from below the goal line beat Ingram through a screen. Schaefer’s assist was his first in the NHL (18 games).
Draisaitl made it 5-2 at 13:46. Kapanen sent a centering pass from the left boards into the slot, where Draisaitl chipped it five-hole on Saros for his first even-strength goal since Dec. 6.
McDavid completed the hat trick at 19:03, tapping in a pass from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins over Saros’ blocker from in front for the 6-2 final. The assist was Nugent-Hopkins’ 500th in the NHL.
Oilers forward Adam Henrique left the game six minutes into the first period after blocking a shot.
McDavid gets hat trick, Oilers cruise past Predators
