EDMONTON — It must have seemed like a capital idea back in July when the schedule came out: Vegas at Edmonton with just eight days left in the season. Perhaps, even, with first place in the Pacific Division on the line.
But by the time April 10 arrived, Connor McDavid was injured and both clubs seemed more preoccupied with their own overall games to worry so much about the game at hand.
“I don’t know if it’d be a statement game, to be honest,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said before the game. “We both know what each team knows what the other is all about. I wouldn’t say it’s a statement game.”
When the gates closed on a 5-1 Oilers victory, however, there was a statement made after all — even against a Vegas team that was missing five regulars.
“That was a solid, complete game for us,” beamed veteran Corey Perry, on a night where the Oilers limited Vegas to just 18 shots on goal. “When you are only giving up (18) shots, how many Grade A’s is that?
“That’s just testimony that everybody is buying into the system and what we have to do to play without our best player — and one of the best players in the world. On the other side, we scored five when we did it.”
The Oilers were near-perfect defensively, holding Vegas to a lone shorthanded breakaway goal by Keegan Kolesar. Vegas’ producers — Jack Eichel, Jonathan Marchessault, Tomas Hertl, Anthony Mantha and Shea Theodore — all delivered a donut in Edmonton, on a night that Alex Pietrangelo (sick), Mark Stone (lacerated spleen) and Chandler Stephenson (personal) were among five Vegas regulars who did not dress.
“When you’re missing the best player in the world you don’t try to replace him,” said Zach Hyman, who notched his 53rd goal and added an assist for 75 points on the season. “Everyone as a group has to step up and play better, and collectively I thought it was one of our better games of the season.
“Everyone was on the same page. It’s amazing when you’re connected how much faster you are as a team.”
Then there’s Vegas, a team that’s running out of time to find its Stanley Cup mojo of a year ago. You could hear it in their post-game voices as they stomached a 5-1 loss to Edmonton, their third straight loss.
“We’ve got to take care of business. We’re not in the playoffs yet,” said Marchessault, who nervously watched ninth-place St. Louis climb to within three points with a win over Chicago Wednesday. “We’ve got to start playing like we want to be in it and we need more than just a couple guys every night. We need everybody and right now we don’t have that.”
With just four games to play, Vegas’ reality is this: If they stay where they are and make the playoffs, they’ll get the mighty Dallas Stars in Round 1. If they manage to pass Los Angeles they’ll face Edmonton, the team that just smothered them 5-1 without their top player.
Most importantly though, the Golden Knights have four games to find their game. They’re taking it right down to the wire.
“Yeah, there’s time. You can keep telling yourself that,” Kolesar said. “But before you know it you run out of time. We saw that a couple years ago (when Vegas missed the playoffs). Right now, our game’s nowhere near where we need it to be, and even if we were to get in it might be a quick bounce for us out of there.”
Edmonton, meanwhile, is finding its groove nicely.
After a 5-0 loss in Dallas last week, the Oilers have reeled off a 6-2 win over Colorado, pulled off a win at Calgary the very next night, and crushed their old rival Vegas.
They rolled four lines nicely on Wednesday, and Dylan Holloway arrived from his latest stint at Bakersfield and looked very much like it might have been his last. Holloway, who played left wing on a line with Ryan McLeod (two assists) and Corey Perry, scored a goal and enjoyed a plus-three evening.
On his first shift, Holloway got in on the forecheck and rocked big Brayden McNabb, placing the Vegas defenceman on his keester. From there, the big rookie played with confidence and recklessness, which did not go unnoticed by his teammates.
“That’s his game,” said Perry. “He is in on the forecheck, he is strong, quick and on the puck. He did that all night tonight for us.”
Holloway looked very much like he’s ready to help a team win in the playoffs. His speed and physicality will come in handy when pounding on the opponent’s D-men becomes a way of life every spring.
“I wanted to step in and do something, so I tried to throw a hit there,” he said of the McNabb hit. “Just try to play fast and play physical. (Head coach Kris Knoblauch) told me in practice yesterday he just wants me to use my speed and I was just trying to do that as much as I can.”
It was Edmonton’s sixth straight win on home ice, where they’re on a 10-0-1 heater.
