CALGARY — Well, let’s see if this one starts something for the Edmonton Oilers.
Darnell Nurse was as good as Darnell Nurse can possibly be, Stuart Skinner might have been better than he’s ever been, and Connor McDavid found his mojo just in time as the Oilers won a hard-played 2-1 game over the Calgary Flames.
“That’s always the game you want to win,” said McDavid, who rang the winner in off of Jacob Markstrom’s left post with 12:32 to play, extending his points streak to 16 games on his only shot on goal of the game.
“You’re never trying to win 6-5 or 7-5. You always want to play that tight style,” he said. “We did a good job of not making the big mistake like it seems to be something that we’ve done in the past couple of weeks.”
For two teams coming out of the Christmas break, this game was as well played as you’ll see. Markstrom was likely forced to make more five-bell saves — three of which came on Leon Draisaitl — even though Skinner had far more volume, stopping 46 of 47.
This was, perhaps, a coming out party for Skinner, who went into the Christmas break as the Oilers No. 1 and came out the other end by putting a choke hold on that job. And he did it while winning his second straight game here at the Saddledome.
“He does seem to have their number,” assessed McDavid of Skinner and the Flames.
To recap, Skinner made all 31 saves in a loss 4-3 to Calgary up in Edmonton on Oct. 9, after relieving starter Jack Campbell. Then he stopped 40 of 42 in a 3-2 win down here on Oct. 29.
On Tuesday he stopped 46 of 47. Outside of their playoff meeting last season, it’s been a loooong time since the Oilers could say they had better goaltending than the Flames. And we’re going back to Miikka Kiprusoff here.
This Edmonton kid, however, he may just turn the tables.
“You grow up watching these games, and now to get a chance to play in them? It’s a dream come true,” said Skinner, who heard Mikael Backlund’s shot ring off his right post with just 4.5 ticks left on the clock.
“I sure did,” he smiled. “I was kissing the post after that one, like (Marc-Andre) Fleury.”
As good as Skinner played, the beacon for a team that found a way to win a rare 2-1 game was Nurse. He was, as McDavid said, “a horse.”
“So solid, so strong. He won a lot of puck battles in our own zone, and stopped a lot of cycles. He played great.”
We’ve said it before, but this is the Darnell Nurse you can really win with. Forget the offence — just defend, play physical, and make use of some of the best wheels that any six-foot-four blue-liner has across the league. He played 23:32, blocked three shots, and was the Oilers heartbeat in a physical, low-scoring, grind-it-out battle.
“I know one play,” Skinner said, “we were all really tired in the first period and we iced the puck. He skated from basically right when he got off (the bench) and he beat both those guys down the ice (to negate the icing). He’s just such a hard worker and I respect him.”
This was, like a win in Tampa or last week’s rare victory at Dallas, the kind of road win that shows you something about this Oilers team. It was a hard game against a good defensive team — on the road — and the Oilers came out on top to win the season series.
Throw this game down against an Anaheim, a Vancouver — against more than half the NHL — and you’ll win nine nights out of 10.
But that is the Oilers’ issue, isn’t it?
“For us to step in to the lion’s den and find a way to get your second win on the season in this building… I think it’s a good win for us. Important win for us,” began head coach Jay Woodcroft, who knows the search for some form of consistency continues.
“That’s always the goal,” he said. “We have 14 games left before the All-Star break. We’re quite aware of that. There’s a lot of divisional games dotted on that calendar. We’re quite aware of that.”
He just wants to see the same game Friday night in Seattle. Kind of the way Markstrom saw the same game-winner from McDavid that he saw in overtime of Game 5 last spring, a hard wrist shot that beat him low on the glove side.
McDavid had struggled for the opening 40 minutes, with zero shots on goal and a 1-for-7 night in the faceoff circle. Then he came out for the third, won five-of-eight in the circle, and scored the clutch winner for his 31st in game No. 36.
It was easiest prediction you’d ever make, that McDavid would have a final 20 minutes that made us forget about the opening 40.
“It’s my job to produce, and I’m just trying to get a touch on games,” he said. “I just tried to get my little piece in there.”
