This, friends, was a beatdown.
It was a lesson meted out by the old dog to the new pups, those upstarts from Utah who had walked into Edmonton on Thursday and won 4-2, handing the Oilers their first regulation loss.
Just in case the Mammoth players were thinking, “We can handle these guys,” the Edmonton Oilers gave them something else to think about.
Connor McDavid opened his five-point night with a goal just 40 seconds into the game, and the Oilers took a 5-0 lead into the third period en route to a 6-2 shellacking. It was never close to being close — not for a second was the result in doubt.
“We came ready to play,” pronounced Oilers head coach Mike Babcock, who like Zach Hyman opened his post-game briefing with prayers for the folks in Wainwright, Alberta. “(Utah) had just beaten us, we’re in their building on a Saturday night, and anytime somebody beats you — anytime you're playing someone back to back, — you’ve got to get to another level the next (night).
“We clearly did that.”
Two nights after he’s played nearly 26 minutes, McDavid’s ice time came down to a manageable 19:52 in this one.
“I just think everybody's involved,” Hyman said. “I don't know what the minutes were tonight, but it felt like we were turning lines over pretty quickly, and all four lines contributed. When you do that, and you have everybody involved, it feels like a team win.”
McDavid is on a career tear, with 23 points in his first eight games this season. It’s his best start ever at age 29, and he’s on pace for 242 points.
“And isn’t he plus-19?” asked Babcock. “It's impossible to coach a team when your best player isn't driving, and this guy's driving. But he has a bunch of support. We’ve got a lot of workers, which is positive, and you're going to see our team really grow here as we get people back and get deeper.”
Edmonton is now 5-0 on the road this season, a franchise record, and 6-1-1 overall. Their .813 points percentage is second only to Carolina (.833) across the NHL. the Hurricanes visit Edmonton on Thursday.
Fistic Freddy
Remember when we talked so much last season about Trent Frederic finding a role on this team? Well, with his second fight of the year, it looks like he’s grabbed on to something he can do.
Earlier this season Frederic took a fight against Seattle’s Ryan Lindgren, some payback for a hit at last year’s world championships that concussed Evan Bouchard. And on Saturday he exacted some revenge against Utah’s Jack McBain, who had levelled Leon Draisaitl with a dangerous cross-check in the back two nights before.
“That’s just a team guy stepping up,” said Hyman, who was part of an Oilers entourage that was visibly happy to see Frederic close out that fight with a flurry of uppercuts against McBain. “He's a warrior. I mean, he took a couple and then battled his way back in that fight, got his grip, and he's a tough guy, to say the latest. I think everybody in the locker room values what he brings,”
“I didn't like the cross-check last game and what had taken place,” Babcock said. “We never talked about it at all … with the players. But they all must have talked about it themselves, and looked out for things the way we should have. Freddy did a great job.”
Back At ‘Er
Edmonton got three players back from injury Saturday, and all three didn’t appear to miss a beat. Hyman (one goal), Colton Dach (16:52, with four hits) and defenceman Jake Walman all came back from injury, and all three took a regular shift in Salt Lake City.
Sure, McDavid had five points to lead the way. But when you look at the ice times, this was a departure from the last game, where Babcock over-used his top guys. He’d rather be a four-line team, but he needs guys down there to play better.
“That’s what we’re trying to (be),” he said pre-game. “When you watch (Lines 2, 3 and 4), it’s one-and-done, one-and-done, one-and-done. You can’t be one-and-done. You’ve got to be heavy. The hardest thing about the National Hockey League is, you want to have the puck. But you’re a young guy coming in and you never have the puck. They’re not giving it to you. You’ve got to earn it.
“So, you’ve got to win races, you’ve got to win battles. Your stick has got to be a crow bar. Every time you get a chance, you’ve got to win that battle, check it back in the O-zone.”
Mathieu Joseph scored on one of his two breakaways Saturday, while we liked the games of Ike Howard, Filip Hallander and Frederic.
Here was how the Oilers set up for his one-game roadie:
Podkolzin-McDavid-Draisaitl
Kapanen-Dach-Hyman
Formenton-Michaels-Joseph
Hallander-Frederic-Howard
Ekholm-Bouchard
Shea-Murphy
Walman-Emberson
Jarry
As a result of those players coming back, Josh Samanski was sent to AHL Bakersfield earlier in the day. He’ll be better off playing big minutes there than being used in a fourth-line role in Edmonton. Shakir Mukhamadullin came out of the lineup to make room for Walman.
SPEC’S CHECKS — McDavid has a point in all eight Oilers games this season … On this day — Oct. 17, 2015 — Edmonton became the first team in NHL history to have four first overall picks score a goal in the same game. Taylor Hall (2010), Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (2011), Nail Yakupov (2012) & McDavid (2015) all scored in a 5-2 win over the Flames.
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