EDMONTON — There is some irony that the Edmonton Oilers finally moved into first place in the Pacific Division on April Fool’s Day.
The Oilers? In first place with four games to play?
Yeah, sure. And Connor McDavid’s coming out to sub for your beer league team next Tuesday night.
Believe it.
Milan Lucic scored a power-play goal with 1:58 to play, then Ryan Getzlaf blew a tire in overtime and left a fateful puck for McDavid. On a two-on-one that has shades of Gretzky to Kurri, McDavid fed Leon Draisaitl for the big German’s sixth goal against the Ducks this season, icing a 3-2 victory.
"I just saw Connor taking off. It is pretty hard to keep up, let me tell you," said Draisaitl, who is up to 74 points with a two-point evening, and is now eighth in NHL scoring. "I just got on my horse and tried to catch up and get open for a shot."
Draisaitl beat Ducks goalie John Gibson, who was stellar Saturday, and now Edmonton sits tied in points with Anaheim with four games each to play. The Oilers own the tiebreaker based on having one more win in regulation or overtime than Anaheim.
"Overtime hasn’t been our friend this year, that’s for sure," lamented Ducks coach Randy Carlyle, whose club is 2-10 in three-on-three hockey. "We slip and fall, it’s a two-on-one, and the game is over."
The Ducks scored two power-play goals, while Edmonton couldn’t get out of its own way on the man advantage. Then, with the game on the line, a rebound found a wide-open Lucic in the low slot and the game was tied.
Then Getzlaf stepped on a banana peel in OT, and who was there to lead the jailbreak? McDavid and Draisaitl, who both ran their point streaks to 10 games Saturday.
Something special is happening here in Edmonton, folks. This isn’t just a hot streak, though Edmonton has won nine of its past 10 down the stretch, best in the NHL.
This is going to be a 100-point team, which absolutely nobody predicted.
McDavid is going to flirt with 100 points — he’s at 94 now — and is pulling away in the race for the Art Ross and Hart trophies. Cam Talbot has become a top-10 NHL goalie, tying Grant Fuhr’s team record with his 40th win Saturday.
It’s beginning to look like the Stanley Cup Playoffs might not just be a place for this young team to dip its toe in the water.
"I think some people thought we weren’t going (to be able to play) with these teams come playoff time," Talbot said. "I think we have shown the last couple weeks, with playoff hockey against the big heavy teams we are going to have to go through. We have been able to come out on top."
"Ever since the calendar turned over to March, it has just seemed like everything is rolling in the right direction for us," echoed Lucic, who’s up to 19 goals now. "From the goaltending, to the defensive play, and guys stepping up offensively… Every game means so much. It’s a good spot for us to be in with four games left."
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Edmonton heads out Monday for games in Los Angeles, San Jose and Vancouver, then closes their season against the Canucks at Rogers Place. Anaheim plays in Calgary Sunday night, and then gets the Flames, Blackhawks and Kings at home to finish their schedule.
The Ducks have experience, and three home games to Edmonton’s one. But the Oilers have McDavid, who is playing absolutely brilliant hockey right now, notching three points in a 3-2 win.
"It’s remarkable, really," marvelled head coach Todd McLellan, after coaching his 700th NHL game. "I’ve had the honour of being around some tremendous players in my day: (Pavel) Datsyuk, (Joe) Thornton, Patrick Marleau and Sidney Crosby. Connor is at a very, very high level right now.
"He’s separating himself from a lot of people in the league right now, and I say that with a lot of respect for the others. But he is just remarkable right now."
It wasn’t supposed to happen this fast in Edmonton, but this team is big, fast and confident. And, they have the best player on the ice every night in McDavid.
Oilers fans might want to fasten their seat belts.
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