Connor McDavid recorded his first playoff hat trick to lead the Edmonton Oilers to a 6-3 win over the Chicago Blackhawks, tying their best-of-five qualifying series at one game apiece.

McDavid scored 19 seconds into the game, then off an electrifying solo rush just past the four-minute mark, and once more on the power play late in the second period on Monday night.

At the 4:05 mark, McDavid knocked down a stretch pass in full stride at center ice and, with his speed, blew past Chicago defenseman Olli Maatta on the backhand and flipped the puck up and over the short-side left shoulder of Crawford.

Chicago battled back, but never took the lead.

Midway through the first frame, Alex DeBrincat, circling the net, fed a backhand pass to Patrick Kane, who jumped into the play and redirected the puck low stick side on the far side past Edmonton goalie Mikko Koskinen.

Edmonton outshot Chicago 35-26, after being outshot 42-29 in the opener.

McDavid, the NHL's second-leading scorer in the regular season (34 goals, 97 points), had a goal and two assists in the opening game but he, along with the rest of his team, had been roundly criticized for getting outhustled and outmuscled by the lower-ranked Hawks in a 6-4 loss in Saturday's opener.

Game 3 is Wednesday night.