Connor McDavid has yet to register a point after his first two games,but it's not for a lack of opportunities. The Oilers as a whole haven't scored a proper goal yet at all.
A solid game against the Preds on the road ended in a shutout but the team had outshot and out possessed Nashville in their own barn. It's a start. The team worked on the Power Play and what to do with control in the OZ intensely yesterday. They had 5 opportunities the other day but produced nothing.
If the Oilers continue to get good goaltending, as they have, and continue to keep the edge in shots and possession then they will break through with wins eventually. There is simply too much talent in the forward group to stay off the scoreboard in those conditions. That's why Saturday was both disappointing and promising at the same time.
McDavid is starting to look a little more comfortable out there, especially with Yak on his RW last game. The points are going to come soon. He's too talented, too fast, and too smart for them to stay away for long. I don't think I mentioned this after Game 1 but Elliotte Friedman did so I will parrot them. Connor McDavid's speed and agility allowed him to walk by Jay Bouwmeester on Defense. Bouwmeester is one of the NHL's smoothest skating defensemen and has been his whole career. Making Bouwmeester look average is a huge accomplishment in its own right.
LINEUP
Taylor Hall was too ill to take the morning skate so there is some question to whether he will play or not. I am going to assume he will NOT play tonight. That means Korpikoski and Pouliot move up accordingly.
Pouliot RNH Purcell Korpikoski McDavid Yakupov Klinkhammer Lander Slepyshev Hendricks Letestu Gazdic
Klefbom Schultz Sekera Fayne Davidson Gryba
Nilsson
OILERS KEYS TO THE GAME
1) ConYak. The duo of McDavid and Yakupov seemed to click in the last game but this should be their first full game together. Finding chemistry for the super Rookie is going to be extremely important moving forward. McDavid is the puck carrier and Yak is a shooter. It could be a happy marriage.
2) Davidson. The Oilers are rotating partners for Gryba during this early part of the season. I'm not overly keen on the rotation as I was very impressed with Reinhart in TC and in Game 1. However, Davidson didn't look bad in TC either. He doesn't do anything particularly well but he isn't poor in any regard either. As far as 6th Defensemen go he should be able to get the job done. If he can do more than that then he might even be able to win the job full time and force the Oilers to send Reinhart to the AHL.
3) Seguin & Benn. The Stars are a team not completely unlike the Oilers in that they have talent up front but their Defense is unbalanced. Last year it was all about Seguin and Benn. Early on they have to be the focus for the Oil as well. They would be smart to try to match up against McDavid but Edmonton will keep trying to get RNH out there instead, I'm sure. Both lines have been good by possession metrics. The issue is that it just takes one mistake for Seguin or Benn to get on the board.
Puck drops tonight at 6:30 PM on Sportsnet Oilers. Game On! Follow me on Twitter @Archaeologuy