Dave Tippett elected to go back to the dynamic duo on Monday night when he lined up Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl together. The duo stayed together for all three games of Edmonton’s miniseries against the Ottawa Senators. All of those games were victories.
While that line can dominate just about anyone in the NHL, just ask Ottawa and Calgary, when you put them together there are cons.
It weakens the rest of the lineup, and takes a driver in Draisaitl off of the second line. When that happens, other players must step up. That’s exactly what happened on Friday night. Both Tyler Ennis, now on the second line at left wing, and Gaetan Haas lit the lamp in Edmonton’s fourth consecutive victory.
As the club opens the second half of the season, it’s an excellent sign for Tippett to see his depth players finding the scoresheet. Even if it is against a team that hasn’t come close to stopping his group all season long.
“When you put McDavid and Draisaitl together, you’ve got to have some balance throughout your lineup,” Tippett said postgame on Friday night. “It’s good to see them (Ennis, Haas) get on the board. Those are things that, as a team, we have to make sure are in place as we move forward here with everybody chipping in and everybody feeling like they’re a part of it, whether they’re on the scoreboard or not.”
Ennis finished the night with two points (1 g, 1 a), while depth forward Patrick Russell also chipped in with an assist on Darnell Nurse’s eventual game winner. Adam Larsson, the shutdown defenseman who is playing some his best hockey over the last 20 games, also chipped in with a helper.
The Oilers will need their depth again tonight, as they play the second half of a back-to-back set. With travel involved, Edmonton to Vancouver, they’ll need all hands on deck if they want to sweep the weekend and create more separation with the playoff cutline.
The good news? The depth has been trending in the right direction since the ten game mark. Go figure, the Oilers are 15-5-0 in that span.
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