MONTREAL — The verdict is in.
If Connor McDavid and his linemates can provide some support scoring, the Edmonton Oilers might be all right.
On a night where head coach Dave Tippett ran centres McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins on separate lines for the first time in a long while — a shift in Oilers philosophy, made possible by the addition of left-winger Evander Kane — the three trios produced in reverse order. Nugent-Hopkins’ third line scored three times, Draisaitl cashed twice with his unit, and McDavid’s winger Kane scored in his Oilers debut, a 7-2 shellacking of the listless Montreal Canadiens.
The fourth line closed out the scoring, just to put a tidy bow on Edmonton’s fourth straight win, as good a night as they could have imagined.
“It’s one game,” said two-goal man Zach Hyman, “but it’s definitely nice to get contributions from all four lines. It makes it a lot easier on the big guys.”
On a night when the Oilers were playing in an empty arena against an empty-hearted and under-staffed Canadiens club, you couldn’t have chosen a better night to run fresh line combos and break in a new player in Kane. The controversial signing became everyone’s favourite teammate when he opened the scoring — the first time in a dozen games that Edmonton has scored first — tipping home an Evan Bouchard point shot from the top of the crease just 11:21 into his first game as an Oiler.
“Great to get on the board early, and everyone took off after that,” said Kane, who had the perfect low-stress game in which to work out the kinks in his first NHL game since May of 2021. “It’s been a long time. When you get to a new team and you’re being brought in to produce — and you do, early on in the first game — definitely it is a good feeling. The boys were telling me they hadn’t scored first in a long time.”
So how did Tippett’s new line configurations work out?
How about a seven-goal night for Edmonton where McDavid doesn’t even register a point?
That’s like the Blue Jays scoring 12 and Vladdy going 0-for-5, or the Mavs scoring 120 with Luka Doncic on the bench.
Unheard of?
A three-line attack in Edmonton is something we haven’t seen since The Kid Line of Adam Graves, Martin Gelinas and Joe Murphy helped win their last Stanley Cup back in 1990.
Forgive us for over-reacting — and we know they still need a goalie — but an Oilers team with Hyman and Nugent-Hopkins on the third line is a completely different animal from the club that was swept by Winnipeg in Round 1 last spring.
“Just more depth,” said Hyman. “You saw how spread out the lines were today, and to be able to get contributions from all four lines… When you’re able to roll four lines it wears on teams. It’s not fun to play against when you have a new set of (players) who are dangerous every shift.”
How does he view playing on a line with Nugent-Hopkins and the beefy Zack Kassian?
“Just being able to hold on to the puck, and having an extra second to make a play,” Hyman said. “Nuge is so dangerous, he finds the soft area where the other team’s coverage isn’t there. To be able to find him and get him the puck he’s a great shooter. If Kass and I can bang around in the corners and get him the puck, I think it’s going to be a pretty dangerous line.”
Hockey is a game where the best teams find a new hero every night. Sure, there are goaltending issues here, and a team has to be able to defend. But in a 3-2 league, getting to three becomes a lot easier when you have McDavid on Line 1, Draisaitl on Line 2, and the duo of Nugent-Hopkins and Hyman on Line 3.
“Nuge, Kass and Hyman were maybe our best line tonight,” said Kane. “They finished their chances. If they can continue to do that — and I’m going to get a lot better with Connor and (Kailer Yamamoto) — I’m liking how things could possibly look here in the near future.”
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Edmonton scored three goals in a 2:30 span in Period 1, and the Habs went away. What a season for Montreal, opening with their goalie Carey Price leaving the team for the long-term, and their captain Shea Weber calling it quits, likely for good.
Their season was over before it started, and falling behind 3-0 and 5-1 in front of an empty Bell Centre, this was an exercise in getting to the final horn for a Canadiens team that sits dead last in the 32-team NHL.
And Edmonton?
This was the start of something, not the finish.
A balanced Oilers attack heads to Ottawa for a Monday game, feeling pretty good about itself.
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