“Every once in a while, you need to get fed your lunch.”
EDMONTON — That’s a pretty good line. But on this night, the Minnesota Wild had a better one.
It’s not often, here in Edmonton, that the other team ices the best line of the game. But at even strength, the Wild’s top unit of Joel Eriksson Ek between Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy was exactly that — waaaaay better than Connor McDavid’s line.
How much better? Two even-strength goals to none.
“I like that kind of thing,” said Oilers head coach Mike Babcock, after a stirring 4-3 overtime win for Edmonton, two points rescued by an Evan Bouchard laser beam on the occasion of the defenceman’s 27th birthday. “Every once in a while, you need to get fed your lunch. And when that happens to you, you say, ‘What are we going to do to fix it?’”
“When you play a good team that’s organized, there’s no room,” Babcock continued. “And if you don’t look after the puck, if you don’t play right, you get frustrated. The great thing about the real good players that have done a lot of winning is, they don’t get frustrated. They just keep coming and keep coming, and they know it’s a patient game. You just keep plugging away and plugging away, and you’re going to get a break.”
Frustrated?
On this night, the McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Vasily Podkolzin unit took out their frustration on the Wild penalty killers.
While Minnesota’s best players saved their best work for even-strength hockey — but went 0-for-3 with the man advantage — McDavid’s line cashed in with the man advantage to the tune of three goals. Draisaitl rifled home his first with under three seconds to play in Period 1, on a five-on-three advantage, and opened the second on the same power play just 63 seconds into Period 2.
Then, when the Wild took a too-many-men penalty in overtime, the Oilers closed out their seventh win in nine games when Bouchard unleashed one of his patented wrist shots past Jesper Wallstedt.
Defencemen are well known for having the hardest slapshots in the game. But Bouchard might just have the most potent wrist shot, which is truly rare.
“Any type of shot that he gets off is extremely dangerous,” said Draisaitl. “Accurate, hard, whatever it is. You name it, he’s got it. He’s pretty elite.”
“He can sling that thing,” said Oilers goalie Devon Levi, who duelled Wallstedt right to the end. “A super special player. I’m so happy for him that he got the overtime winner on his birthday.”
Speaking of special, McDavid (three assists) notched his 20th assist in his ninth game this season. He is the fastest player to get to 20 assists in NHL history
That’s right: NHL history.
McDavid has 26 points through nine games, and is on pace for 242.
On this night, however, a win over a very good Minnesota team will suffice, considering the Oilers’ recent record against Minny. Edmonton was 4-14 in its previous 18 games against Minnesota, outscored on average by a count of 4.17 to 2.89.
But in those games, the Oilers have endured a team save percentage of .856. They’d lost four straight in Edmonton to the Wild, and seven of the previous nine.
Levi changes things. He made a handful of incredible saves, to allow the Oilers a shot at the second point in OT — saves this team simply has not had in recent seasons.
For a guy who was signed as the No. 3 goalie behind Frederik Andersen and Tristan Jarry, he stood before the post-game media as the clear No. 1 on an Edmonton team that’s enjoying one of its best starts in franchise history at 7-1-1.
“I’m super grateful to be here,” he said. “This city is unbelievable, a true hockey city. I care a lot about these fans, they have welcomed me with open arms and the team here as well. I feel at home. I’m just super grateful for the way that everything kind of unfolded and I’m having a lot of fun every day.”
SPEC’S CHECKS — Edmonton’s penalty kill is finding its feet. They held Utah, the top PP in the NHL, scoreless in two attempts Saturday. On Tuesday, the No. 2 Wild PP unit went 0-for-3 … Babcock said he expects Ryan Nugent-Hopkins back from injury for Thursday’s visit by Carolina, Game 2 of this five-game homestand.
