Edmonton Oilers Win The McDavid-Eichel Show 2-1

The Edmonton Oilers should consider a new slogan, replacing “Here Come The Oilers” with…

“The Kid Is All Right”

Connor McDavid was magnificent, on Tuesday night. Holy hell, what a player.

What more of a introduction is necessary? 2-1 Oilers, in O/T.

9 Things:

9. Adam Pardy made a very good impression. He logged 20:24 TOI, in a pairing with Brandon Davidson (22:02), which was very effective. The strength and positioning I anticipate from Pardy. Pleasantly surprised with his 1st pass abilities.

8. Taylor Hall really had it rolling, tonight. When he has his wheels, he is a sight to behold. Played a bunch (21:16), skated miles, had 3 shots, and was the best player on that line. The 3rd best Oiler, behind McDavid & Talbot.

7. Nail Yakupov had a solid game with McDavid and Jordan Eberle, had 3 shots, took one stiff check in order to get the puck deep, and had a number of effective sequences on the back-check. No reason not to march him out there again.

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6. Darnell Nurse was very, very good tonight. He played 18:00, which may be a clue as to why. This was Exhibit “A” of how a little LESS ice-time can really benefit a young defender. He had 2 hits, 7 shots, and while I don’t believe that Corsi is a good measure for D-men…Nurse WAS 61%.

5. Does anyone else think that the Pittsburgh Coach out-maneuvered himself in overtime? Maybe he called the time out to give his goalie a breather. But he also gave Connor McDavid a breather, after #97 had just finsished off a shift nearly 2 minutes long. That rest gave McDavid the wind for that rush on the winner. Oops.

4. He giveth…and he taketh away. Jordan Eberle made a lovely pass to McDavid on the goal just 22 seconds in. A smart player like Eberle can think on the level with a player of McDavid’s skill. That very fact is why it’s so frustrating that Eberle was principally at fault on the tying goal, when he failed to tie up his man on the back-check. He missed his next shift. Message sent…and received.

3. 9 Things is usually and typically about performances by the Edmonton Oilers, unless a player on the opposition was spectacular. And Robin Lehner was nothing short of spectacular tonight. The Oilers had the edge in possession and offensive zone time. Lehner was the principle reason why the game got to overtime at all. Made 39 saves and was his team’s best player.

2. But as good as Lehner was, fact is Cam Talbot was one save better. This is a key ingredient that the Edmonton Oilers have been missing, at least on a consistent basis, since Duane Roloson was in the nets for this franchise. Talbot made 31 saves, had absolutely no chance on the one puck that did elude him. This was a very entertaining goaltending battle to watch, one that Talbot won.

1. Well…what do you say about that? The game was billed as the McDavid versus Eichel performance tonight, and Connor McDavid was up to the task, outplaying his young counterpart (although to be fair and clear, Eichel played just fine). #97 scored the opener on a play he started with a deft poke check and finished with a sublime deke. And then he closed out the night in overtime, with a spectacular end-to-end rush that was, ironically, set up by a desperate effort by Eichel in the Oilers. McDavid scooped it up, beat every Sabre down to the other end, and tucked the winner past Lehner for the 2 points. In between all that, he had a Corsi of 63%, 5 shots, a number of passes that led to high-risk chances in the kill zone, blah, blah, blah, blah…

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As scintillating as Connor McDavid was tonight, the Edmonton Oilers played well as a unit. It’s difficult to say it was a “team win” when one man accounted for all of your offence. But it was…a lot of players contributed, from Adam Cracknell to Taylor Hall (6 shots).

Perhaps most telling, though, is how these Edmonton Oilers have started to play the games the right way. The score, over the past 4 games, has been a combined 7-6 Edmonton. I’m note sure I believed they were capable of that.

G’night, Connor. Sleep well. You’ve earned it.

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