The Edmonton Oilers got a hat-trick from Connor McDavid and a shutout from Cam Talbot to win their 2017-18 season opener 3-0 against Calgary Wednesday.
Edmonton Oilers
Edmonton had a strong start from the get-go, with the Patrick Maroon-McDavid-Leon Draisaitl line buzzing early. Not only that, McDavid had been showing great speed all night, and that is one of the factors that truly helped the Oilers dominate.cored about 11 minutes into the first period on a nice rebound from Draisaitl to give the Oilers an early 1-0 lead.
The 20-year-old centre scored about 11 minutes into the first period on a nice rebound from Draisaitl to give the Oilers a 1-0 lead. The score would remain the same through two periods, and then in the second, McDavid’s surge continued.
After picking up the puck in his own zone, the Edmonton captain turned on the jets and carried the puck all the way to the other end of the rink in a matter of seconds. Sportsnet reported that he was going about 40.9 kilometers per hour. In a remarkable display of speed and stamina, he scored his second of the night on a solo end-to-end play.
With less than a minute to go in the second period, McDavid scored his third goal of the night, with assists from Draisaitl and Lucic. Shortly after, the Oilers skated away victorious with a 1-0 victory.
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Cam Talbot shined in net and the defence stood tall in front of a tough Flames team that looked exhausted and outplayed. The 29-year-old goaltender made 27 saves on the night.
Draisaitl also had two assists in the victory, and Maroon and Milan Lucic also picked up a helper. Kailer Yamamoto got to play in his rookie debut, but he only got about 6:33 minutes of ice time. Still, he did start with Lucic and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, showcasing his true value.
The Oilers also dominated with 45 shots on goal, which is near twice as many shots as Calgary had.
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With a strong start to the season, the Oilers are ready to be top contenders moving forward.