If you’re going to lose and it becomes clear early Thursday morning that the Edmonton Oilers are going to do just that, you might as well go to battle.
McDavid came to the defense of teammate and friend Leon Draisaitl following a loss in Dallas, getting into a physical altercation with Stars center Justin Hryckowian near the end of the second period. He didn’t like the puck getting shot at Draisaitl, accidental or not, and McDavid did what any good teammate does. He went over there, ripped off his helmet, and fired a shot or two.
We’ve seen McDavid and Draisaitl side by side at award ceremonies, Stanley Cup festivities, and weddings. But rarely has an NHL penalty box been shared like when The Big D opened the third period against Edmonton.
“Honestly, he’s the last guy that should ever do something like that,” Zach Hyman said after the Stars’ 7-2 loss. “As a group, we have a way of getting involved when things are going like this. You saw him trying to get our group back into the fight. Same thing with Leon.”
After all, Dallas owns the Oilers in the regular season. But when it mattered, the Oilers beat the Stars come playoff time and knocked them off in back-to-back Western Conference finals.
You can see how it works. The Stars are 6-1 in the regular season against Edmonton, but how the Oilers can win eight of 11 games in their last two playoff series, while also looking at what happened to an Oilers team that had wins in Las Vegas and Colorado but was down 5-0 before scoring in Dallas on Thursday night.
For two consecutive games, Edmonton allowed a goal on the opponent’s first shot on net. The Oilers watched Jamie Benn and Sam Steel score before Evan Bouchard went on a 2-on-1 to make it 3-0.
Dallas scored two more goals in the opening 6:15 minutes of the second period before Bouchard’s goal broke the momentum. But Edmonton never came close in this game, with mediocre, sloppy performances coming after a pair of diligent efforts against the Golden Knights and Avalanche.
“We didn’t have a chance to make any plays in the offensive zone in the first period,” coach Chris Knoblauch said. “We want to continue to get through teams that are very defensively structured. It’s tough to get through there, and even when we did, we didn’t have a lot of speed to get that puck.”
Somehow, this team saved its worst defensive performance for when Tristan Jarry scored. In return, Jarry has not shown the ability to keep his team in the game while they find their footing. It’s definitely a poor combination.
It would have taken a few miraculous saves to get out of the first period down 1-0 or 2-0. If you buy Jarry, you can’t seem to find a save at the right time. Meanwhile, his team continues to try to stop him.
This is a rough combination, but not as rough as Jarry’s numbers after his 13th start as an Oiler. That’s a 4.17 goals against average and a save percentage of .855.
Any confidence he may have built up in a relief game in Denver was dashed by the midway point of Thursday’s chaotic tilt. Jarry went the distance, allowing seven goals on 27 Stars shots.
Two days after losing three players in Tuesday’s surprising 4-3 win at Colorado, Knoblauch was glad he was able to fill out his 20-man roster in Dallas without recalling anyone from Bakersfield. Just in case, the AHL Condors were relatively nearby and playing the Texas Stars in Austin.
The most encouraging news centered around goalkeeper Connor Ingram, who suffered a concussion due to Nathan MacKinnon coming to the crease.
“Ingram is good and healthy,” Knoblauch said before the Dallas game. “He won’t start tonight but he can play if we need him.”
As a result, on Friday St. In a game in St. Louis, Knoblauch would likely keep Jarry there for the full 60 games, barring injuries, no matter how much he put in. And after seeing Jarry play better than the team in front of him on Thursday, Ingram will likely start the road trip finale against the Blues Friday.
As for Colton Dach and Ty Emberson, both returned home to Edmonton for a look after not leaving the locker room after their first period in Denver. “They’re getting tested. I hope it’s not too long-term,” Knoblauch said.
oil spill — Hyman has played his 700th career game… Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is two points short of 800 career points. He was pointless on Thursday, as was Edmonton’s entire top line (minus-8 total). That goose egg also gave McDavid a 19-game point streak.
