If the Canadian continues his bad habits on the ice, we can expect Connor McDavid and the explosive Edmonton Oilers to have a feast at the Bell Center on Saturday night.
The Habs are coming off two poor performances in a row, most notably on Thursday when they lost 3-2 to the weak San Jose Sharks, a team that had previously suffered 12 straight losses. This season, head coach Martin St-Louis' side have won just eight times in regular time and there is no indication that they will improve on that tally at the end of the week against a club that is the exact opposite of their opponents . the previous ones.
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In fact, the Oilers are one of the current teams in the National Hockey League with nine straight wins. On Thursday, they beat the Detroit Red Wings 3-2 in overtime, and McDavid turned heads again by scoring his 16th goal of the season. To the delight of pool players who bet on him, number 97 is in good shape. The last time he failed to get at least a point was Edmonton's last loss. He collected 15 points during his team's winning streak.
In short, the troubled past marked by ten losses in the first twelve games of the season and the replacement of head coach Jay Woodcroft by Kris Knoblauch is behind everyone in the locker room and confidence reigns.
“It says a lot about our group and our determination. We care about everyone's well-being. It wasn't the easiest way to get here, but we were able to stay calm. “Winning nine games in a row is something very special,” full-back Darnell Nurse commented to the “Edmonton Sun” newspaper.
Knoblauch's observations are similar.
“They are stubborn and form a tight-knit group in which everyone does their job,” he said. It's a very mature team. If there were many ups and downs, […] we stayed positive.”
Well-oiled attack
As many experts expected, the Oilers' offense is working well in 2023 and 2024, even if it took a while to find its rhythm. They currently rank sixth in the Bettman circuit with an average of 3.53 goals scored per night. The power play ranks seventh at 25.4% and could cause problems for the Canadian, who has a 73.0% efficiency rate in front of a man.
However, the attack alone does not justify the comeback of McDavid's gang. In the net, Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard stabilized a situation that had previously been difficult to control. The first has topped .900 in efficiency, while the second has won four of its last five games.
“He plays excellently. He's solid and makes all the saves we need to give us a chance to win. He's a popular guy in the locker room and the players like him. But he shows up for the competition. He was great for us,” said striker Zach Hyman, who is also having an outstanding year thanks to his 26 goals.
Saturday's meet will be broadcast on TVA Sports on Saturday at 7 p.m.