D-man Barrie adjusting to Oilers' power players
Oilers defenceman Tyson Barrie is still trying to find his way among one of the best power plays in the NHL.
Sometimes that means staying out of the way of Connor Mcdavid and Leon Draisaitl, as Barrie discovered Thursday in a 5-2 win against the Vancouver Canucks.
Barrie nearly broke up the play leading to Mcdavid’s highlight-reel goal against the Canucks, attempting to knock down a drop pass from Draisaitl at centre. Fortunately for Barrie, he missed the puck, which Mcdavid picked up in full stride, blew around Canucks forward Tanner Pearson at the blue line, cut inside of Alexander Edler and snapped a shot past goaltender Thatcher Demko.
Thinking he had missed the pass, Barrie was circling back into his own end as Mcdavid took the puck up ice.
“I gave it up to Leo and I saw Connor was on the left side and I thought he was going to drop it to me and I’d zip it over to (Mcdavid), but clearly they had other plans,” Barrie said with a smile after practice Friday.
“I didn’t even know Connor was behind me, he just came flying and I’m glad I missed it; I tried to knock it down. I was heading back for a breakout when Connor put it in the net. I’m still getting used to playing with these guys.”
Barrie and Mcdavid had a laugh about the play during the celebration following the goal, which was the second of three for the Oilers captain. There was some debate after the game as to whether the play by Barrie was an intentional misdirection, but that wasn’t the case.
“We’ll have to put that in the notebook here,” he said. “I’ll just peel back for a breakout and
Connor will come flying in. There could be something to it.”
Playing with talented players is not foreign to Barrie, who ran the power play with the Colorado Avalanche featuring Nathan Mackinnon and Gabriel Landeskog and was with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner last year with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Mcdavid and Draisaitl, however, might be on another level. The two leading scorers in the NHL last season each finished with four points against the Canucks.
“They’re two incredible talents,” Barrie said. “In their own ways, they kind of do different things, and they’re both world class. I went to Leon after and I was like, ‘I thought it was coming to me,’ and he’s like, ‘I don’t do bad sauce passes,’ and I was like, ‘Fair enough.’ They’re pretty special players and I think it’ll click on that power play, hopefully, all season.”
The Oilers host the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday (5 p.m.) at Rogers Place in the first of two games.
GOALTENDING DILEMMA
The Oilers thought they were set with their goaltending to start the abbreviated season, but Carolina Hurricanes general manager Don Waddell ended up throwing a wrench in the plans, claiming Anton Forsberg off waivers, just to waive him again two days later.
The Winnipeg Jets claimed Forsberg, leaving the Oilers in a jam, having lost Mike Smith, who was put on long-term injury reserve Friday with an undisclosed injury.
Smith was expected to start Thursday, but was a late scratch, forcing the Oilers to recall Stuart Skinner from the taxi squad on an emergency basis.
The Oilers recalled Olivier Rodrigue, who was on loan to Graz99ers of the Austrian National League, and placed him on the taxi squad, pending quarantine protocols.