CALGARY — Connor McDavid had been relatively quiet, which never happens here in Calgary. While down at the other end the pucks were going post-and-out for goalie Jacob Markstrom — not post-and-in, as is usually the case against his personal kryptonite, the Edmonton Oilers.
Alas, a game lasts 60 minutes, we are told, and before Markstrom and the Flames could get to the finish line, the puck found the wrong guy at the wrong moment.
Markstrom got caught behind his net chasing a shoot-in. The rest, as they say, is history in a 3-2 win for the Oilers over Calgary.
“I saw him chase the rim, and I think he maybe even took the long way around (the goal),” said McDavid, who retrieved the biscuit and quickly rifled it at — and past — the flustered Flames ‘tender. “I don’t think I even had a shot on net yet. So it was good chance to get one on net, and you know…”
You know…
That goal — McDavid’s league-leading ninth in nine games — tied the game at 2-2. A couple of shifts later McDavid brilliantly directed a pass to Zach Hyman, who banked home the winner off his skate, his second of the game.
For McDavid, it was a three-point night — to go with the four-point night he had in Chicago on Thursday. “It’s just normal,” Hyman shrugged.
We are nine games into the 2022-23 season and the Oilers captain already has three four-point games and a three-point night. He has nine goals and 18 points, leading the NHL in both categories, and McDavid is well on his way to decimating his career-high of 44 goals, set last season.
“He’s the best hockey player in the world,” said head coach Jay Woodcroft. “It’s a privilege for me to stand behind the bench every game that he gets to play in.
“He’s a true competitor. He rises to the occasion in big moments. And today was a big moment.”
Full disclosure: For years we’ve propped up a Battle of Alberta that featured a pair of also-rans who, when the chips were down in May and June, were populating the fairways and greens of their summer locales.
Today, The Battle features a pair of Stanley Cup contenders and a passel of players who are worth the price of admission.
One of those players may have arrived on Saturday, in the form of young Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner. The Edmonton native was raised on crucial games against the Flames on Hockey Night in Canada, and on Saturday found himself front and centre, making 40 saves for his first career victory over the hated Flames.
“Growing up you know, you lived for these moments,” Skinner said. “There was a moment during the third where I kind of snapped my fingers a bit, pinched myself and then got back to work.”
The fact that Skinner got the start for the second time on a three-game road trip — on one of those classic Saturday nights in Calgary — is a sign that he is more than just challenging Jack Campbell for the net in Edmonton.
Skinner is a rookie backup, while Campbell just signed a five-year, $25 million deal as the supposed starter. But that’s the GM’s problem.
The head coach made the right choice Saturday, and now it’s up to Campbell to change Woodcroft’s mind — exactly what every team wants with its goaltending tandem.
“He’s given us a sense of calm,” McDavid said of Skinner. “He’s just stable and solid, making the saves that he should and hanging on to pucks as well. It’s big, giving us a chance to get on and off the ice. Maybe kill a little momentum.”
Speaking of momentum, knocking off the 5-2-0 Flames marks Edmonton’s fourth straight win, while completing a perfect three-game roadie.
The slow-starting Oilers close out October with a 6-3-0 mark, and have beaten Calgary, St. Louis, Carolina and Pittsburgh along the way. They have trailed in four of their six wins, which is both the good and the bad news for McDavid.
“It would be nice to play with the lead,” he said, only half-joking. “But I like the resiliency, the stick-with-it kind of mindset that we’ve had. We could have folded our hand a few nights here on this road trip, but we stuck with it and found a way to get three big wins on the road.”
A team that struggled out of the gate has found itself, and looks ready now to challenge for the Pacific Division lead the rest of the way.
“One of the things that I really liked was the quality of opponents that we’ve played in this month, and the types of games we’re being forced to play,” Woodcroft said. “I’m super proud of our players for grinding it out in these types of games. Every single game except one has been a one-goal hockey game (give or take a few empty net goals).
“At the end of the month… you see the quality of opponents we’ve played, and then you put it together with the types of games we’ve been asked to play? We’re not perfect, but we’re a work in progress, that’s for sure.”
