EDMONTON – “It’s a good time to be an Oiler,” Connor McDavid was saying, a 3-2 win over the San Jose Sharks in the bank.
In a season of firsts, that’s a quip we haven’t heard in these parts since Ryan Smyth was spittin’ chiclets back in the spring of ’06.
After another two-point night by McDavid – no one in hockey has more multi-point games than his 27 this season – the Edmonton Oilers are entirely in control of their chances of winning the Pacific Division. A win over San Jose, coupled with Anaheim’s overtime loss in Winnipeg, leaves the Oilers one point behind the Ducks with five games each to play.
Anaheim comes to town for the late Hockey Night in Canada game on Saturday. Suddenly, no one is chuckling anymore when the Oilers talk about finishing first.
“Did I see us competing for the top spot?” asked head coach Todd McLellan, whose team has won seven straight at home. “Depends when you ask that question. At the beginning of the season I wasn’t sure. As little as three weeks ago I thought San Jose was kind of running away with it. But they fell back to the pack a little and we won some games.”
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The Oilers are in perpetual motion, playing tough, tight, playoff-style games, winning them, and thus steeling themselves for the next one. They defeated Los Angeles 2-1 on Tuesday in a rugged affair, then outlasted a Sharks team Thursday in a fashion not seen in many a year around the 780.
“This is playoffs for us,” said 27-goal man Patrick Maroon, who buried a McDavid feed for the 1-1 goal, then tipped home a Kris Russell shot for the eventual game-winner. “We are going to be playing these teams eventually, whether it is the first round, second round, third round, whatever. We have to continue to be in their face and try to find ways to win and make them not want to come here and play us.
“That is what we are set up to do. We want to make them scared and make sure they know that we are a good hockey team.”
It’s official. Edmonton is good.
The Oilers survived a frigid opening 10 minutes, trailing only 1-0 due to Cam Talbot’s stellar work between the pipes (38 saves Thursday). Then McDavid went to work with a wonderful shimmy that opened up a lane for his two-on-one pass to Maroon, followed seven minutes later by a pick-six – intercepting a pass near centre and ripping in for a breakaway goal.
His speed is, in a word, incredible. If McDavid is not yet bestowed with the title “Best Player in Hockey” he is clearly the fastest. And he seems to get faster when he gets the puck.
“He can make plays at a speed that, I don’t know if anyone in the league can make,” marvelled Russell. “You see some fast skaters in this league, don’t get me wrong. But his hands, his mental capacity to make plays… It’s just as quick. That’s what separates him.”
As the stage gets bigger and the lights get brighter, McDavid is getting better. Edmonton has won eight of their past nine, and McDavid has 16 points in that span. He scored the first shorthanded goal of his NHL career Thursday, and now has 91 points – a seven-point lead on Patrick Kane and nine clear of Sidney Crosby.
Beating the Sharks, though. That’s what stood out on the night for McDavid.
“If you’re going to go far in the playoffs, all roads lead through [San Jose],” he said. “It’s good to get these games in. You want to play these games heading into the playoffs. Those meaningful games. We’re ramping it up, and we feel pretty good about our game right now.”
The Oilers pulled five points clear of Calgary, a club that not long ago was a point ahead in the standings. Now, it’s Anaheim. A huge tilt on an April Saturday night, televised coast to coast, with an extra hour of, err, prep time for 18,000-plus delirious Oilers fans.
“Any time we play those guys it’s a bit of a rodeo,” McDavid said. “Should be a fun one here in Edmonton. A lot on the line.”
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