Anyone who questioned the leadership of Connor McDavid only needed to watch 19 seconds of the Edmonton Oilers Game 2 victory over Chicago Blackhawks on Monday night. McDavid scored on the game’s first shift, 19 seconds in, and added another goal at the 4:05 mark of the opening period.
On Monday, in a ‘must-win’ game, McDavid was by far the best player on the ice. His powerplay goal at 17:10 of the second period completed his first career playoff hat-trick and stood as the game-winner.
“He came out with a huge goal on the first shift to get us going,” veteran James Neal said postgame. “That’s what he does. He wants to play in the biggest games, and that was a huge one for us.”
The Oilers were much better in every area on Monday. They carried play at five-on-five after being dominated in that game state on Saturday. Their penalty kill was perfect, and their bottom-six had the puck going in the right direction all game long.
There was a complete buy-in from McDavid on down on Monday that simply was not there on Saturday. It started with the aforementioned captain.
“Connor led the way, especially early,” Tyler Ennis added. “He set the tone for us, gave us a spark. That’s exactly what we needed and everybody followed.”
McDavid may not be the loudest leader in the NHL. He may not be the guy who will flip out and break a trash barrel after a bad period or a tough loss. What he is, however, is a player that can and will put a team on his shoulders when the going gets tough. He did that on Monday night, and it clearly had an impact on his teammates.
McDavid deserves a ton of credit for Edmonton’s win on Monday. He’s hardly alone, however. Mikko Koskinen was terrific in the first period, stopping a handful of strong Blackhawks chances. All four forward lines were far more aggressive and had much better puck control. All three defensive pairings turned the puck over less and tightened up defensively game-over-game. It was a more reflective effort of what this team really is.
“We played more to how we’re capable of playing, right throughout our lineup, and the results showed in a win,” head coach Dave Tippett said. “We knew this was a critical game for us, and I really liked the way our guys came out and played accordingly.”
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