COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - When Edmonton scored the third goal on Sergei Bobrovsky, Columbus’ exasperated net-minder fell on his back and stared up at the lights while the Oilers celebrated.
It was that kind of night for Bobrovsky and for the Blue Jackets, who rarely take a loss like the 7-2 beating dispensed by Edmonton on Tuesday night.
Connor McDavid had a goal and three assists, and Laurent Brossoit stopped 28 shots. Mark Letestu, Matt Benning and Jesse Puljujarvi each added a goal and an assist, and the Oilers chased Bobrovsky, the reigning Vezina Trophy winner, from the game at the end of the second period.
“We just played a solid game, consistent up and down the lineup,” said McDavid, whose four points pushed his team-leading season total to 39. “We were able to roll four lines for the most part, and the special teams got us going a little bit.”
Brassoit started his seventh game since the injury to No. 1 goalie Cam Talbot last month. Zack Kassian, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Milan Lucic also scored for Edmonton (13-16-2). A dozen different Edmonton players recorded at least a point.
Columbus (19-11-1) is battling for Metropolitan Division supremacy but couldn’t get on track against the Oilers and didn’t make Brossoit work exceptionally hard. They played so poorly that coach John Tortorella didn’t know what to say. His postgame comments lasted all of 15 seconds.
“There’s no sense in me even trying to answer questions about this evening,” he said. “Sorry about that.”
Bobrovsky stopped 21 shots for the Blue Jackets, who lost for the first time in three games and only the fourth time in the last 14.
Backup Joonas Korpisalo played the final period and made 10 saves.
Oliver Bjorkstrand and Jack Johnson scored for Columbus.
The Blue Jackets struggled to get the puck out of their zone in the early going, and the first period ended with the Oilers up 1-0. Kassian scored his third goal of the season 5:55 into the game when he got a feed from Letestu across the front of the net and an open look from the doorstep.
The Oilers turned it up in the second period, scoring four times.
Nugent-Hopkins got a wide-open look 6:27 in, and he banged it in from the right circle on a power play. Later, Benning snapped in a shot between Bobrovsky’s pads from the high slot, leading to the goalie’s uncharacteristic show of frustration.
The Oilers scored twice in the last minute of the period. Lucic made it 4-0 when he chipped in another power play goal with 51 seconds left, and Letestu got a short-handed goal on a breakaway with 1 second remaining.
The frustration boiled over in the third period when Columbus captain Nick Foligno engaged and then proceeded to pummel Edmonton’s Jujhar Khaira. Both were penalized for fighting.
Bjorkstrand scored 32 seconds later, ending a scoreless streak of four periods for the Blue Jackets. Johnson’s tally followed, but the Blue Jackets were unable to climb back in the game when Puljujarvi and McDavid added third-period goals.
“There was just a lack of focus tonight that we normally have,” Foligno said. “It’s disappointing. We haven’t been beat like that all year.”
NOTES: McDavid has 16 points in his last 11 games. … Cam Atkinson, the leading scorer for Columbus last season, was back in the lineup after being a healthy scratch on Saturday. … The power-play goals by the Oilers were only the third and fourth allowed by the Blue Jackets penalty-kill this season. … Talbot, the injured Oilers goalie, skated with the team on Tuesday, but a return date has not been set. … Edmonton F Anton Slepyshev was back in the lineup after being scratched the last four games. He replaced Drake Caggiula.
UP NEXT
Edmonton: Hosts Nashville on Thursday.
Columbus: Hosts the New York Islanders on Thursday.
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