Edmonton Oilers Pregame Thoughts

Before I talk about the obvious, Darnell Nurse deserves a lot of love. A 3 point game, two of them being goals and one of those being the overtime winner on Thursday night. I even remember a shift where he blocked an attempt at the puck getting to his team’s net. He normally overcommits to blocks and looks worse, but he played that one well. So far, it was his best game by far this season. He’s been better since having Brett Kulak as his partner on the right side. I don’t know if they can sustain that chemistry for the rest of the season, but I hope they do.

In the second period, it couldn’t have been more fitting for Connor McDavid’s 1000th point to be a goal off a 2v1 rush and assisted by Leon Draisaitl, his Ride Or Die. Nurse also had the secondary assist. Before McDavid was drafted in 2015, there was Draisaitl in 2014 and Nurse in 2013. They’ve grown up together in the last decade and got to share a career milestone on the ice. Not just that goal, but they all connected on the game winning goal as well.

As an Oilers fan who resides in Toronto, it would admittedly be more special for me personally if Connor wound up getting #1000 at Scotiabank Arena tonight. But I do prefer it that he got that out of the way in front of his team’s home crowd instead. Keep in mind that on last season’s Ontario road trip, they were trying really hard to help Zach Hyman get his 50th goal. Even though it happened in Ottawa, they still lost both games because that was their only focus. I made a note of sticking to the game plan in the last game preview, and the help McDavid got in the first period was so blatant. Three games in Eastern Canada, just focus on doing your jobs. The keys to the game are…

Timely Saves: The Oilers, albeit winning both games, have had two straight decided in OT because they allowed goals at the worst possible times. Anthony Stolarz is currently sporting a .930 SV% and 2.11 GAA in 11 starts, a big reason for the Maple Leafs being 5th in GA/G. He made a huge save on Alex Ovechkin in OT during Toronto’s last game, then his team scored the winning goal just seconds later. Every team gives up high-danger chances, that’s why they all have goalies. Whether it’s Stuart Skinner or Calvin Pickard starting this one, we have yet to see a true clutch performance from them this season.

Offense By Committee: Superstar goal scorer and new Leafs captain Auston Matthews has missed Toronto’s last 5 games due to injury. In his absence, they’ve scored 15 goals. Some of Edmonton’s forwards not wearing 97 or 29 have had a hard time staying consistent on scoresheets. I don’t know how long Matthews will be out, but take a page out of tonight’s opponents and start picking up the pace more frequently.

Craig’s List: After watching the Leafs suffer early playoff exits year after year, Stanley Cup-winning head coach Craig Berube has been tasked with changing the culture of his new team this season. We’ll find out in April if that pans out. In the game I mentioned on the first key, they came back from 3-1 down late in the third period. They don’t always look perfect, but as this season goes on, will we start seeing a different Toronto team than in year’s past?