3 Takeaways as the Oilers overpower Ducks 8-2
A look at some of the key points from Sunday night, as the Edmonton Oilers beat the Anaheim Ducks 8-2 for their biggest win of the season to date.
Following on from Friday afternoon’s 5-0 win over the Capitals, the Oilers were aiming to carry this momentum into Sunday night’s game versus the Ducks. It’s safe to say they managed this, with a tremendous 8-2 win.
It helped that the Ducks entered the contest on a five-game losing streak, which had actually started with another 8-2 defeat, to the Avalanche. The Oilers happily repeated this trick, with their own scoring avalanche.
There’s very little to criticise aside from Stuart Skinner allowing a couple of soft early goals, although he tightened up after this. Let’s get to our three main takeaways from the game at Rogers Place:
1) The captain is back
There’s no denying Connor McDavid hasn’t been his usual self this season. However, this doesn’t excuse some of the grief he’s received from so-called fans, which has been nothing short of ridiculous.
The thing is though, even this subpar version of McDavid has still been one that everyone in the NHL would gladly accept on their team. Not that it matters anyone, as he is finally starting to look more like the generational superstar talent that he is.
The six-time All-Star was coming off a four-assist performance in Washington, D.C., which was the first game this season when he had more than two points. On Sunday night he produced another four assists, with a goal thrown in for good measure.
When McDavid is on form, there’s pretty much no stopping him or the team. His play galvanises the rest of the players, resulting in everyone working that little bit harder, with more focus and desire.
After the Ducks had taken an early 2-1 lead, this was when the 2015 first overall draft pick took over the game. He scored his goal with a nice wrist shot to make it 2-2 and then assisted on the next two Oilers goals for a 4-2 advantage going into the first intermission, and they never looked back.
With two more helpers, McDavid moved into third place in franchise history, with 39 three-plus assist games. Whether the speculation he had returned from injury too soon was true or not, all that matters now is that he is truly back.
Postgame, McDavid was asked if confidence contributed to his recent improvement, but in typical fashion he preferred to discuss the team as a whole. Speaking to the media, he said:
“Confidence is obviously a big part of it. I think our whole team is playing better and I think that’s why you’re starting to see guys have success. It’s not just a light switch one guy or two guys can just turn on. It takes a whole group and I think the group’s been playing better of late.”
2) Zach Hyman and Evander Kane in fine form
As per McDavid’s comments about the team needing to play well as a whole, the Oilers can’t just rely on him and Leon Draisaitl for points. In this respect, Zach Hyman and Evander Kane have certainly done their bit to contribute.
Against the Ducks, Hyman had two goals and an assist, while Kane added a goal and helper of his own. Each player brings different intangibles to the ice, but both are vitally important to the success of the Oilers.
For Hyman, his brace means he now leads the team with 12 goals, while having 22 overall points. This should come as no surprise after his career-year last season, when he set personal bests with 36 goals, 47 assists and 83 total points.
As for Kane, he’s come a long way from earlier in the season, when he had just one point in his first five games. There was concern that he still hadn’t recovered from the wrist injury which cost him a significant amount of last season.
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Since those first five games however, the 32-year-old has looked more like the player the Oilers saw prior to said wrist injury. In fact, you could go as far as to say he carried the team at points while McDavid and Draisaitl were struggling, in terms of his physical game, points production and in general.
Certainly when Kane puts it all together, you see glimpses of why he was selected fourth overall in the 2009 draft. With 18 points in his previous 15 games, he represents another player for opponents to fear.
As for Hyman, he’s not one to speak about himself, so it was up to his coach to discuss his leading the team in goals. Speaking postgame to the media, Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said:
“Goals, no matter who you are — Ovechkin , Stamkos, Matthews — they’ve got an exceptional shot. And maybe he doesn’t have that natural scoring ability of shooting on the perimeter or outside the dots, but even as good as they are at scoring goals, it’s usually around the net. … Zach’s been going to the net and not getting tied up. He’s making sure he’s fighting for position, getting inside position, not allowing the defenceman to lift his stick, doing those kinds of things, and he’s been rewarded.”
3) Darnell Nurse and Connor Brown finally show something
If you’re looking for players who’ve disappointed most for the Oilers this season, Darnell Nurse and Connor Brown would be right up there. Harsh or not it’s the reality, albeit maybe for slightly different reasons.
In the case of Nurse, he was the talented defenceman the Oilers felt compelled to draft seventh overall in 2013. He got to a point where the team were confident enough to sign him to a eight-year, $74 million deal which was all guaranteed.
Unfortunately for the Oilers, this didn’t guarantee success on the ice, with Nurse looking decidedly average so far this season. In fairness to him you can levy this charge against most of the team, but few have the level of expectation placed on his shoulders.
However, fans finally got to see just what the 28-year-old can do on Sunday night. He had arguably his best game of the season to date, which included season highs of three assists and a +3 plus/minus rating.
With the Oilers winning five of their past eight games, Nurse was asked what he liked about the defensive play in those five victories. Speaking to the media, he said:
“It comes down to everything in those games, whether it’s forwards tracking back, the (blue line) having good gaps in the neutral zone, (Skinner) making some huge saves for us in big moments. And the confidence of the D-zone to know when to close plays and when not (to). So it’s been a combination of all those aspects of our game that have to continue.”
As for Brown, the disappointment had come from recording no points in his first 13 games, despite being brought in as the Oilers’ main offseason forward signing. There was concern he just wasn’t going to be the same player as he was prior to the anterior cruciate ligament injury which limited him to only four games last season.
Fortunately for everyone concerned the points drought ended on Sunday night, as the former Leaf set up Kane perfectly and notched his first assist of the season. The relief was evident on his face as the team celebrated, but now it’s a case of seeing if he can start producing more as the season progresses.
Quote of the day
Knoblauch continuing to discuss Hyman’s fine scoring form this season. In the understatement to end all understatements, he said:
“It doesn’t hurt playing with Draisaitl and McDavid.”
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With the win, the Oilers improved to 7-12-1 and climbed to within six points of a playoff spot following Sunday’s slate of NHL action. Next up they face a massive test on Tuesday night, as they host the reigning Stanley Cup champion Golden Knights.