Expect Crosby’s team to key on Mcdavid
Get ready for a night of comparisons when the Oilers play host to the Pittsburgh Penguins in Edmonton on Tuesday.
Sidney Crosby says Connor McDavid is the best player in the world today. In a rank-and-file vote, most NHL players would agree with Sid. But Crosby has two Olympic golds and three Stanley Cup rings, so he can live with not being the most dangerous.
In Sid’s first three years in the league, he had 102, 120 and 72 points, good for 294 points total.
In the Oilers captain’s first three years, he had 48, 100 and 108, a total of 256 points.
Mcdavid won two scoring titles and one Hart Trophy as MVP in his first three seasons. Crosby got one Art Ross Trophy and one Hart Trophy. No Stanley Cups for either guy, but Crosby got his first in 2009.
Here are five things to watch for in Tuesday’s game:
1. One-man gang
If the Penguins have access to the game tape of Nashville swarming Mcdavid every time he got the puck, you can bet they’ll be trying to do the same. Just six games in, it’s painfully obvious that if you stop Mcdavid, the Oilers are in trouble. He didn’t get anything going against the Predators and the Oilers lost three-bagel.
2. What supporting cast?
The Oilers have only two goals from forwards who wouldn’t be considered big guns: Jesse Puljujarvi (six shots) and Kailer Yamamoto (eight). Nothing from Ryan Strome (nine shots), Jujhar Khaira (two) or Tobias Rieder (10). And only one snipe from a defenceman, Darnell Nurse, but then that’s not earth-shattering news. Last year, the Oilers had just 32 goals from the back end.
3. Lest we forget Malkin
The Penguins are always called Crosby’s Team, but Evgeni Malkin has 12 points in six games this year. The notoriously average faceoff man is also winning 58 per cent of his draws. Malkin has 930 career points in only 784 games, with 63 game-winners. He should have been voted one of the 100 best players of all-time, but somehow got the dirty end of the stick. He’s the third-highest-scoring Russian of all-time behind Sergei Fedorov and Alex Ovechkin.
4. About that power play
The Penguins have given up only one power-play goal, snuffing out 13 of 14 attempts. The Oilers have one of the top 10 PPS in the league, but the Predators with a pedestrian penalty kill (19th) handled the Oilers easily and even scored a shortie from P.K. Subban. Still not sure if those five lefties (Mcdavid, Leon Draisaitl, Ryan Nugent-hopkins, Milan Lucic and Oscar Klefbom on the point) is really a good look.
5. Time to step up Leon
If Mcdavid and Crosby go head to head and it’s a saw-off, it’s up to Draisaitl to match Malkin. Leon’s point total (six in six games) looks good on paper, but he’s also minus-7, worst on the team. Draisaitl absolutely has to want the challenge and, maybe for the first time this year, outplay Mcdavid.