EDMONTON — When you are supposed to make it all the way to a Stanley Cup Final, losing Game 1 of Round 1 comes at a certain peril.
Here in (fill in the blank of your favourite hockey-crazed Canadian market) — a market that has waited for three decades to have a team worthy of being chosen by many Toronto hockey panellists to go the distance — a 4-3 overtime loss on opening night of the playoffs is cause for something far beyond consternation.
Alarm? Disarray? Panic in the streets?
Frrr-eeekin’ out?
Well, let’s tune into 630 CHED’s “Overtime Openline” and see how Oilers fans are taking the loss.
“McDavid, we got 60-some goals from him. What did he do tonight?” asked Josh, speaking with hosts Reid Wilkins and ex-NHLer Rob Brown after Monday night’s loss. “People are gonna hate on this, but I think it’s about time we consider the fact that McDavid isn’t the reason why we’re going to win the Cup.”
Now, hold on a second. Let’s hear Josh out here. I mean, it’s not like he’s just some nut.
He had a sound, well-reasoned theory. One that’s difficult to debate.
“Every team that wins the Cup does not have Connor McDavid,” he deduced. “And they still win the Cup.”
Geez, the guy has a point …
“I’m wondering: if we trade him next year and get a possible three players? What do you guys think? Or am I just being crazy?”
We’ll let a trained professional like Brown take this one: “I think you’re being crazy,” the former Penguin said.
“I don’t think he’ll be traded,” added Wilkins, backing slowly away from the switchboard.
Welcome to Edmonton, where a 1-0 series deficit to the Los Angeles Kings has the roller coaster spinning like West Edmonton Mall’s Mindbender on a bad day.
It all makes Zach Hyman smile. Because he’s not much different when it comes to other sports.
“That’s the beauty of being a fan,” Hyman said. “I’m a fan of the Buffalo Bills and the Blue Jays. They have a bad game and I’m all ‘The season’s over!’ Right? That’s the fun part.
“You go over to your friend’s (to watch a game), and either you’re celebrating like the team is going to win the Cup. Or you’re bitching that ‘This is the worst team I’ve ever watched in my life and I’m embarrassed for them.’
“I love it. Because for other sports, I do the same thing.”
Now, Hyman stays away from AM radio and social media at this time of year. But he gets it.
“Being a fan is irrational. When you’re a fan, you have irrational emotions,” Hyman said. “Like with fantasy football. A player can be the best player on your team for 10 weeks. Then they have a bad week and it’s like, ‘I have to call my GM buddy Nuge and trade him away.’ That’s what makes sports fun.”
The Oilers owned Game 1 for all of the opening 40 minutes, and most of the first 50, holding a 3-1 lead with just eight minutes to play. Then it began to slip away.
McDavid tries a risky pass rather than shooting the puck, and it goes the other way. Adrian Kempe’s backhand hits a stick and finds twine, rather than the end glass, and it’s 3-2.
Then the Kings tie the game on a six-on-four with 17 seconds to play, a puck that slips under Stuart Skinner’s arm and lays in the crease for Anze Kopitar. Then in overtime, Blake Lizotte manages to keep his footing through a possible trip by Oilers defenceman Vincent Desharnais, but gets the tripping call anyhow when Lizotte steps on a busted stick and blows a tire.
Los Angeles wins it on the ensuing power play.
McDavid has gone without a point. So, of course, it’s time to trade him.
Who wouldn’t?
It was like leaving half a hot dog on your golf cart and watching a bird fly away with it. This was a game the Oilers had in the palm of their hand and then they stopped paying attention, allowing a hungry Kings team to pilfer from them.
It wouldn’t have taken much more care and attention to complete the mission. Another goal to make it 3-0. One fewer penalty in the third period.
“I thought we had a lot of good looks to make it 3-0 throughout the second period. A lot of good looks,” said McDavid, after what was very likely not his last game as an Oiler. “If it becomes 3-0, it’s maybe a different game.”
McDavid is supposed to score. He gets it.
But if that’s the fix you’re looking for — that McDavid doesn’t go pointless again in Game 2 — it’s the best bet in the National Hockey League that No. 97 will not go pointless on back-to-back nights in the playoffs.
“In the moment, it’s frustrating,” Hyman said of the immediate aftermath of that Game 1 loss. “You control the game the whole way through — we played really well, actually — and then you let it slip away. In the moment, it’s really frustrating.
“The nice thing about playoff hockey is you can get right back at it. You’ve got to be able to temper emotions, temper the roller coaster. We’ve had experience with losing Game 1s and being able to come back, so I think we’re excited about the opportunity tomorrow.”
All I can say is, it’s a good thing the trade deadline has passed.
