To win in the NHL, your best players have to be your best players.
That’s exactly what the Oilers got out of their best players in their 5-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Thursday. Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Evan Bouchard each had three points as the Oilers’ offence finally broke through.
They didn’t have to wait long to get started. Evan Bouchard scored one of the prettiest goals of the year just under four minutes into the game, dancing through the Senators’ defence and dangling through Thomas Chabot’s legs before roofing the puck past Sens goaltender Linus Ullmark to give Edmonton a 1-0 lead.
Tim Stützle responded for the Senators later in the first off a low-to-high feed from Drake Batherson, but the tie didn’t last long. The Oilers’ top line took the lead back just 35 seconds later, when Vasily Podkolzin threw a puck on Ullmark that bounced out in front to McDavid, who made no mistake for his 8th goal of the year.
McDavid wasn’t done. Taking after the success Podkolzi found throwing the puck on net, the Oilers’ captain took charge on a late first-period powerplay and just fired a wrister, beating Ullmark to give the Oilers a 3-1 lead after 20 minutes.
The Oilers’ dynamic duo, reunited on the top line, continued their dominance early in the second period. After Adam Henrique made an incredible play to force a turnover and advance the puck to McDavid, the captain found Draisaitl to spring him on a breakaway, which he finished off with style to extend the lead to 4-1.
The Oilers let off the gas from there, as the Senators made a third-period push, but the game never felt in doubt. The three-goal lead remained intact as Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Josh Norris notched duelling third-period goals, and the Oilers came away with a 5-2 win they can feel good about.
Player of the Game: Connor McDavid
McDavid continued his hot streak on Tuesday night, notching two goals and an assist to give him 6 goals and 14 points in his last 6 games. Not only that, but his top line with Draisaitl and Podkolzin garnered 67% of the expected goals at five-on-five, and he finally got the powerplay going a little bit.
Kudos also go out to Draisaitl, who took sole possession of second in the league in goals with 14 and added two assists for good measure, and Bouchard, who had his best offensive game of the season with three points in the first period.
Play of the Game
Oilers are 5-0-1 this season when Evan Bouchard collects a point
Bouchard also ties Steve Smith for the 5th most goals in franchise history by a defenceman with 46 pic.twitter.com/HGv1MJDwT4
— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) November 20, 2024
Bouchard has gotten a lot of criticism, some of it earned, some of it not, for his defensive lapses and perceived one-dimensionality. While the concerns over his defence are overblown, he showed the real reason why he’s so important on Tuesday.
He’s an elite offensive defenceman, the best the Oilers have had since at least Chris Pronger and maybe going all the way back to Paul Coffey. Not many other defencemen in the league can score a goal like that one.
It was far from a perfect game, but Tuesday night was a huge bounce back for the Oilers after the disappointing losses in Toronto and Montreal. Five goals is nothing to sneeze at, and better yet: they went 2/2 on the penalty kill, extending their PK streak up to 11 in a row. Considering their historically awful start, that might be the most encouraging sign for the Oilers on Tuesday night.
They’ll be back at it at home on Thursday, when they welcome the Minnesota Wild to Rogers Place.
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