Mcdavid’s point push the dangling carrot for Oilers
There is plenty to keep an eye on when it comes to the final 10 games of the Edmonton Oilers’ regular season.
Most of it has to do with captain Connor Mcdavid, of course, and the mighty turnaround he’s had from what was a terribly slow start to the season, especially for him.
At the same time, nothing is set in stone when it comes to the NHL playoff picture.
Here’s what we know for the moment:
1. WILL HE, WON’T HE?
Mcdavid has officially tossed his hat into the ring when it comes to contention for the Art Ross trophy.
For the first time this season, Mcdavid’s name rose to the top of the NHL’S points list on the way to a 6-1 win over the visiting Anaheim Ducks on Saturday.
He led the way with two goals and an assist to record his seventh multi-point game in a row, giving him 29 goals and 96 assists on the year. Those 125 points briefly leapfrogged the two individuals ahead of him, the Colorado Avalahche’s Nathan Mackinnon and the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Nikita Kucherov, who both went on to reclaim the top two spots overall with 127 and 126 points, respectively.
But the real race is likely between Kucherov and Mcdavid, who both have two games in hand over Mackinnon, and have a slightly better pointsper-game average. With 10 games left apiece, Mcdavid’s 1.79 points-per-game and Kuckerov’s 1.75 points-pergame comes down to a matter of rounding, for the moment.
2. MISTER ASSISTER
Amassing points is one thing. But it’s the way in which Mcdavid has been doing it this year that has him headed toward some really elite company: Wayne Gretzky. Mario Lemieux. Bobby Orr.
Individually, their names are synonymous with hockey, itself. Collectively, you might be hard pressed to come up with more fitting names that would belong on the NHL’S Mount Rushmore. The thing is, there are four faces carved into the actual South Dakota monument. So, it’s fitting Mcdavid will be joining the crew by season’s end.
That is, if he keeps up his pace that has him leading the league in assists with 96 in 70 games played. That puts him on pace for 110, which would make him just the fourth player in league history to hit triple digits.
3. PLAYOFF PICTURE
So much for another Oilers vs. L.A. Kings matchup in the opening round of playoffs. Edmonton bumped the Kings off that trajectory with a convincing 4-1 win Thursday, leaving them vulnerable to being overtaken by the Vegas Golden Knights in third place in the Pacific Division.
That pits the Oilers in a rematch with the reigning Stanley Cup champs who knocked them out of last year’s playoffs, with the Golden Knights winning their second-round series 4-2.
4. DIVISIONAL DROUGHT
But hold on.
The Oilers might not necessarily be stuck in the second-place vs. third-place divisional matchup to open the post-season.
Following Sunday’s win over Anaheim, the Oilers crept to within four points of the Vancouver Canucks’ lead in the Pacific Division. And while it was Vancouver’s turn to beat up on the lame Ducks on Sunday, seeing the gap shrink to just two wins with 10 whole games to go kind of puts things within tantalizing reach for the Oilers, who haven’t won a division title since 1987 — including their two latest Stanley Cup championships. That gives them the longest divisional title drought in all of North American major professional sports, for those keeping score at home.
5. END GOAL
Stuart Skinner has quietly risen into the top five when it comes to wins earned by a goalie, with 33 on the season in 51 starts so far.
A season ago, he finished in the top 10 with 29 wins in his 48 starts as a rookie, with a goals-against average of 1.33 and a save percentage of .914.
This year, Skinner has seen his save percentage fall to .907, while his goals-against improved to a 2.62 average. So, while he’s not making as many stops on the shots he’s facing, he’s allowing fewer goals and earning more wins.
The big test, of course, will be to see if Skinner can keep up the pace come playoff time, which saw his numbers take a tumble in his rookie campaign, when the pressure mounted and he was not able to maintain the same form that led to his all-star selection.
Now, in tandem with Calvin Pickard, the Oilers couldn’t be asking for much more from their netminders down the stretch.