Edmonton Oilers Ride McWonderful Performance To 5-2 Win

His fellow Edmonton Oilers knew they were witnessing something special, at Rexall Place on Thursday evening. And Connor McDavid did not disappoint, with a spectacular 5-point performance against the franchise he grew up idolizing. It was quite a night to be in the rink, to be sure, although strong games by a half-dozen players helped disguise an otherwise spotty performance by the Oilers.

9 Things:

9. Lets get this out of the way, first: That was just barely above an AHL team that the Edmonton Oilers beat tonight. And at that, a Toronto Maple Leafs club that stuck with it’s superior opponent for a couple periods. So while there are positives to celebrate, and I will, lets keep it real…shall we?

8. On balance, Justin Schultz had a moderately successful return to the lineup. I wish I could give him greater praise than that, but holes remain in his game, whether he performs well or not. He had a terrific possession game, the best of all the Edmonton Oilers D-men. But he was the primarily culprit (again) on the Leafs first goal, and blew a golden chance of his own, all alone in the high slot.

7. On a night when the current line-mates reaped the rewards of playing with the phenomenal #97, stark was the contrast with which former McDavid winger Nail Yakupov showed. The young Russian, whom I have all kinds of time for, was invisible save for 2 shifts: One effective fore-check, and one opportunity he most certainly should have buried. The kid looks lost.

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6. Taylor Hall skated miles tonight, and ended up o.k. in the possession stats, but once again had very little to show for it. Part of the problem was that both Leon Draisaitl and Teddy Purcell had off-games. To be honest, I felt Hall carried the line until Todd Mclellan got out the blender in the 3rd, and shook the other 3 lines up. I’d like to see Hall with Draisaitl and Zack Kassian. I wonder if that happens Saturday?

5. I almost never worry when Brandon Davidson is on the ice for the Edmonton Oilers. And I’m willing to bet that the coaching staff feels much the same way, about this rookie’s impressive play this season. It sure looked it tonight: Davidson led the rest of his teammates in TOI by a mile, at 25:06. He was especially strong on the P.K., as his teammates again took too many minors.

4. It pains me to put Benoit Pouliot 4th, among my 9 Things, on a night when he probably played his best game of the season, ending with 4 assists on the night. But as good as he was, including some very good work on the P.K., Pouliot was over-shadowed by 3 other teammates. That’s a compliment to those 3, and not at all an indictment of Pouliot’s play, which was excellent.

3. This game may well have ended differently had it not been for Cam Talbot. The Maple Leafs trounced the Edmonton Oilers in the first period. The opening goal by Connor McDavid was about the only bright spot, against a very spotty club iced by Toronto. I think the start speaks to the team’s shaken confidence. But once again, as he did in New Jersey, Talbot gave his teammates a chance to win, making 34 saves. That period easily could have been 3-1 or 4-1 without him.

2. The skeptics and trolls will say that anyone could have had the performance that Jordan Eberle enjoyed tonight, without his 19 year old center there to help him. But Connor McDavid, Todd McLellan, practically anyone who REALLY knows hockey would agree that is simply not true. I’ve been against the Eberle trade rumors for this precise reason: Eberle is the best pure goal scorer on the team, and he had yet to play so much as a shift with the team’s best player. That finish was on display tonight, as his registered his first NHL hat-trick. So lets not take anything away from #14.

Having said that…

1. You start to run out of superlatives on a night like this. You could use special. Dominant. Awe-inspiring. Off-the-charts. How about “McWonderful“? My goodness, what a spectacular talent this young man is. There literally was not a shift all night long when I thought that Connor McDavid was NOT going to score. He didn’t always, of course, but McDavid’s game was just so head-and-shoulders above his opposition it was a little scary. He ended with 2 goals and 3 assists…the final helper an unselfish dish to Eberle for the hat trick. You can watch McDavid’s game on a cursory level and appreciate the broad strokes. Or…you can break his game down stride-by-stride, and marvel at all of the little things that he does so well. I know what I paid for my season’s tickets this year. It’s games like tonight that make me not regret a single cent of it.

However…

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The Winnipeg Jets, while hardly world-beaters, should put up a much stiffer opposition on Saturday night. They would have won the game tonight, I suspect. One hopes this performance we on-balance enjoyed gives the Edmonton Oilers the confidence to take it up a notch against a very hard-to-play-against Jets squad.

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