3 Takeaways from impressive Oilers 4-1 win in Kris Knoblauch debut
By Paul Taylor
2) The return of the superstars and the power play
There were many reasons why the Oilers had started the season so poorly, with a 3-9-1 record. At the heart of this, was the form — or lack thereof — from their resident superstars, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.
McDavid had equalled his career-worst goal drought of eight games, while Draisaitl had just one in his previous 10 contests. Even allowing for lingering or unconfirmed/suspected injuries, this was just not what was expected from the duo.
The two forwards couldn’t have picked a better game to break out of their respective slumps. Whether it was because of the impact of Knoblauch, playing a poor Islanders team or something else, they looked more like their usual selves on Monday night.
Draisaitl got the party started, as he tied up the game in the first period in impressive fashion. He took a pass from Darnell Nurse, turned Sebastian Aho inside out and powered down the right wing before finishing strong low left with the snapshot.
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Draisaitl and McDavid then combined in the third period, to put Zach Hyman in position to give the Oilers their first lead of the night with his team-leading eighth goal of the season. Importantly it also came on the power play, which had not been up to its usual standard of late for the team.
Within less than two minutes the Oilers broke through again on the power play, this time seeing McDavid end his goal drought. Draisaitl set up him with a beautiful pass and even though there was some good fortune on the finish, you’ll take a goal any way you can when you’ve been struggling to put the puck away.
Draisaitl put a cap on the star duos’ performance, by feeding Evander Kane for an empty net goal to complete the scoring for the Oilers. Speaking to the media after the game about coming through with the man advantage, McDavid said:
"“Our power play always says it is not about how many you get, it is about the ones you do get and the time you get them. Those two in a big moment for our group, it was good.”"