McDavid leads Oilers to 3-1 win over Predators, but lose Draisaitl to injury

Edmonton Oilers' Matt Savoie (22) and Zach Hyman (18) celebrate a goal during second period NHL action against the Nashville Predators, in Edmonton on Sunday, March 15, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson

Connor McDavid had three assists as the Edmonton Oilers picked up a pair of valuable points with a 3-1 victory over the Nashville Predators on Sunday.

Leon Draisaitl, Matthew Savoie and Zach Hyman scored for the Oilers (33-26-9) who snapped a two-game skid.

There is major cause for concern, however, as Draisaitl took a hard hit early in the first from Ozzy Wiesblatt and suffered an undisclosed injury, coming back for a couple of shifts before opting not to return for the start of the second period.

The Oilers have owned the Predators in recent years, with a 16-1-3 record in their last 20 games against them. Edmonton is now 25-4-5 when scoring first this season.

Fedor Svechkov replied for the Predators (29-28-9), who have lost six of their last eight.

Connor Ingram recorded 26 saves to earn the win in the Edmonton net, while Justus Annunen made 27 stops for Nashville.

Takeaways

Predators: Winger Matthew Wood, selected 15th overall in 2023, had his a four-game point streak (4G, 1A) come to an end.

Oilers: McDavid extended his points streak against Nashville to 18 games, tying his best career run against a single opponent. Only Draisaitl has a longer current streak against a single opponent in the NHL, with points in 20 straight games against Chicago. In 27 career games against Nashville, McDavid now has 51 points (16G, 35A), while Draisaitl has 55 points (30G, 25A) in 32 games.

Key moment

The Oilers took a two-goal lead 2:32 into the second period as McDavid made a nice feed across to Savoie on a two-on-one and he wired home his 11th of the season.

Key stat

Oilers defenceman Mattias Ekholm, who picked up his 30th assist in the contest, has been a huge addition since coming over from Nashville at the 2023 trade deadline. Since that trade, Ekholm leads all NHL defencemen with a plus-108 rating.

Up next

Predators: Visit the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday.

Oilers: Host the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 15, 2026.

Shane Jones, The Canadian Press