McDavid and Oilers continue to play their best hockey at the most important time

SAN JOSE — They’ll always be known for their offence, and another six-goal day like the Edmonton Oilers laid down on a Saturday afternoon in San Jose drives that point home like a Leon Draisaitl one-timer from the right-wing circle. 

But, on the afternoon where Connor McDavid became the first 150-point player in his lifetime, it’s the “one” in the 6-1 victory that makes us feel more and more like the Edmonton Oilers have finally arrived as a genuine Stanley Cup contender. 

“Being solid defensively leads to wins. We know that, and we’ve played well defensively,” said McDavid, whose Oilers are on a 12-0-1 run and have allowed just three goals in their past five games. “It's been a good run. We need to keep it rolling here. It’s a big one in Denver.” 

The win sends Edmonton into Tuesday’s game at Colorado just two points behind Conference-leading Vegas, with two games to play. Edmonton holds the tie-breaker, so they have two games left (in Colorado, at home to San Jose) to make up two points on Vegas, who has a home and home left with Seattle. 

Can Edmonton play any better than this?

“You always think you can be playing better, right? But we're playing our best hockey at the most important time of year,” allowed Zach Hyman, whose 83 points this season are 29 ahead of his previous career-high. 

“We have one goal, and until we reach that goal we're always gonna expect more out of ourselves,” he said. “Since the trade deadline … we have our team, we're excited about our team. We're excited about our growth since then, and our growth throughout the year. We're playing some good hockey and we gotta keep going.” 

Three nights ago in Anaheim, they gave Ryan Nugent-Hopkins a giant cake after the game to celebrate his 100^th point. On Saturday, there was a post-game video ceremony with tributes from the five players that McDavid joined — an elite group of six NHLers who have summitted the 150-point plateau. 

“It kind of hit me,” said McDavid of the video. “That was special for them to do. To hear from all five was amazing.” 

With two goals and an assist, McDavid goes to 64-87-151 with two games to play, joining Wayne Gretzky (nine times), Mario Lemieux (four times), Steve Yzerman, Bernie Nicholls and Phil Esposito as 150-point players. The last time it happened was Mario in 1995-96. 

McDavid was born in January of the following season. 

That he has posted career high in goals, assists and points this season is truly amazing, points out Hyman. 

“Especially in our day and age, where Leon is at (124) points,” Hyman said. “So Connor is 20-some points up on the second guy — who's also on our team — who's (16) points up on the next guy (Nikita Kucherov). 

“He’s the best player in the world, and he just continues to push his own envelope. He continues to make himself better and make our team better.” 

Is this the summit? Or can we expect even higher offensive totals again next season from McDavid? 

“If you ask him, he's not going to get worse next year. That's not the goal,” laughed Hyman. “Knowing him, he'll be back at it working on whatever he thinks he needs to work on — and I don't know what that is…” 

What separates this team from years past, however, is their ability to keep pucks out of their net. 

Cue defenceman Mattias Ekholm, who was by some margin a smarter acquisition at the trade deadline then going after Jakob Chychrun or Erik Karlsson. Since joining the Oilers on March 1, Ekholm is plus-25, with three goals and a dozen points. 

That kind of defensive anchor has helped an entire team solidify its footing, right down to netminder Stuart Skinner, whose game has more than just steadied behind a more responsible club. 

Breezing through San Jose, a team that looked like they just didn’t want to get injured heading into the summer, the Oilers are the consummate example of a club playing its best hockey at the most important time. 

“There's always the ceiling, and you never know how high the ceiling is. But … we're playing really well. We're putting wins together, and that’s all you can ask at this time of year,” said McDavid, whose club has won seven straight for the first time in 22 years. 

The Oilers have not given up on winning the Conference. After that, there’s just one thing left to win. 

In a season where McDavid will need a U-Haul at the NHL Awards Night, to bring home the various trophies that he’s earned this season, there’s only one shiny mug he’s thinking about. 

“We are a close group,” McDavid said. “The core guys have been here for a long time, and in a lot of ways we've kind of grown up together. Everyone that we've added have been here a little bit now, the new guys have fit right in and we're on a good run. 

“We're feeling good about our game, heading into the fun time here.”