McDAVID SHINES BRIGHTLY FOR OILERS
There were a lot of stars out with Anaheim in town, but all eyes were on the captain
It was late in the first period when Connor McDavid danced in on the Anaheim Ducks defence and deked and darted around until the puck somehow ended up getting sent down ice.
At full speed, the Edmonton Oilers captain flew down to the other end, retrieved the puck himself and began a coast-tocoast trip that ended up being stopped after he’d gone through everybody again. It was one of the most spectacular shifts of the season.
In the second period, he damn near did it again with another excellent effort.
“Shoot!” the fans yelled on that one.
Midway in the sandwich session, he burst in on a clear-cut breakaway and was foiled by John Gibson in the Ducks net.
Finally, with 8:02 left in the period, McDavid broke in on a three-on-one and dropped it to the trailer, Kris Russell.
It was the Oilers’ first goal in 153:43. It also ended the longest pointless stretch in McDavid’s career.
Held off the sheet in the previous three games, his assist ended his own personal drought in 256:39.
McDavid hadn’t produced a point since 16:07 of the first period against the Jets in Winnipeg on a goal by Jesse Puljujarvi.
McDavid broke in alone early in the third period and drew a penalty to provide a power play. With 5.2 seconds remaining in regulation time and the score tied 1-1, he did it again.
With a little puck luck, we’d be talking today about watching one of the greatest games he ever played.
The Oilers’ young superstar, whom the Ducks managed to take away to some degree in the last playoffs, played possessed.
In the end, it was Ryan NugentHopkins winning it in a shootout to end the Oilers’ four-game losing streak, but make no mistake: McDavid was the first, second and third star of this game.
One thing Edmonton fans have that the other 14 teams missing the playoffs don’t is the opportunity to watch McDavid every night.
Perhaps to remind everybody in the building, Eric Stephens sent out the tweet: “Watching Connor McDavid is worth shelling out for a ticket.”
Stephens and the fans in the stands Thursday night likely won’t be watching him in a playoff series against the Ducks like they did in last year’s seven-game Pacific Division final.
And no, you probably won’t be watching him win the Hart Trophy, either. They don’t usually give that to a player on a team that misses the playoffs.
It will be interesting to see where he sits in the minds of the voters though, and that will be possible this year. The Professional Hockey Writers Association is going to poll the voters for a mid-season version of the awards to be released in the final week of January.
McDavid, who turns 21 on Jan. 13, completed the first half of his third season in the NHL on Thursday with 14 goals and 32 assists.
Last year at the halfway point, en route to his 100-point Art Ross Trophy-winning season, he had 14 goals and 32 assists for 46 points.
The difference was, last year, he had a three-point lead at the turn. This year, McDavid went into the game sitting ninth in the league.
After 168 career NHL games, McDavid has 60 goals and 133 assists for 193 points. With his 21st birthday on the day the Oilers complete a five-game road trip before their break, he’ll likely be able to say he registered 200 points before he came of age.
McDavid is on pace to become the fourth-quickest active player and third-youngest active player to reach 200 points.
Sidney Crosby did it in 142 games. Alex Ovechkin took 165. Evgeny Malkin did it in 166.
Among active NHL players, only two have reached 200 points before their 21st birthday: Crosby and Steven Stamkos.
In Oilers history, Gretzky reached 200 points in his 117th game, Glenn Anderson in his 169th and Jari Kurri in his 177th.
In Oilers history, only three players reached 200 points before their 22nd birthday: Gretzky at 19, and both Paul Coffey and Mark Messier well into their 21st year.
As long as Edmonton has McDavid to watch, as bad as this hockey season has been here, it’s still good.
OILERS DEAL FOR MONTOYA
Also Thursday, the Oilers acquired Montreal Canadiens goalie Al Montoya for a conditional fourth-round draft pick. Montoya, who has played 159 NHL games and has another year at US$1.062 million after this season, has been out for two months with a concussion. His arrival presumably means Laurent Brossoit, Cam Talbot’s backup for 13 games, will be headed to the farm team in Bakersfield.