McDavid orchestrated a five-assist masterpiece, while Draisaitl potted a hat trick. The Oilers' dominant win might just be a sign of things to come.
The Edmonton Oilers are finding their game at precisely the right time. Tuesday night, against the Calgary Flames, they might have offered up their best 60 minutes of hockey all season, and the feeling inside the locker room is that they're just scratching the surface of where things can go.
Leon Draisaitl scored a hat trick—which would have been the story of the game—until Connor McDavid turned in a five-assist performance that stole the spotlight.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins remained hot, Zach Hyman scored a goal and added two assists, the defense played well, the depth played its part, the power play was dynamic, and Connor Ingram was solid.
It was the ideal performance as the Oilers and their fans head into a holiday break feeling great.
"As Good As It's Been"
"I thought it was as good as it's been," said McDavid of the three dominant periods of play. "Pretty solid all over, special teams were great, five-on-five generated, and didn't give up much. Goalie played well... lot of things to like." Draisaitl said, "Certainly up there, but I think it's been trending that way over the last couple of months. At least a couple of weeks. We've been playing some good hockey, some consistent good hockey. Everyone's contributing, everyone's chipping in, everyone's doing their part. When we get to that point, we're a tough team to handle."
The Oilers did give the Flames all they could handle. In fact, they gave them so much that Flames defenseman MacKenzie Weegar suffered frustration overload, getting himself kicked out of the game after losing it over a two-minute penalty that went from a minor to a 10-minute misconduct, then to a game misconduct.
An Oilers team firing on all cylinders can do that to an opponent.
We Could All Learn A Thing Or Two From Connor Ingram
We could all learn a thing or two from Connor Ingram.
For McDavid and Draisaitl, they were simply on another level.
When asked where his energy is coming from in a schedule that's been demanding, McDavid responded, "I like this schedule. This schedule suits me. I like just getting into a groove and sticking with it, getting into a good routine, games feel comfortable that way."
As for what feels like a sudden turnaround, it might not be so sudden. Draisaitl noted the team has been trending this way for a while.
"We demand to be a playoff team. When you start the season the way we did, nobody's happy, nobody likes it. We've got better, we know we can be better, and we have a lot better in here. Everyone stepped up and started playing better. Now we're rolling a little better."
The Oilers didn't panic when things weren't going their way.
"Guys are just playing better," said McDavid. "When teams are struggling, everyone looks around for answers and points to one thing or the other, but ultimately, it just comes down to individual play from everybody. I thought collectively as a group our game has just gotten better and better as the season's gone on... that's the biggest thing."
The timing of this turnaround is impeccable.
"Guys are feeling good, healthy, a lot to like going into the break," added McDavid. "It's a great opportunity, a great, great opportunity for our group here. You know, home for most of January. We don't go east again; we've gotten a lot of tough trips out of the way, we're healthy and only getting healthier."
The team and the captain see know they got through the tough part and there's an opportunity staring them in the face if they can keep playing this well. "I like where our group can go. This is a big month coming up. We've got to take advantage of this schedule at home, make a push."
The Oilers Are Looking to Keep Riding This Momentum
Nobody in the NHL has been as hot as McDavid over the past dozen games. Draisaitl, for his part was producing points, even if it took eight games for him to get the goals he got on Tuesday. What might be most exciting is that the team is coming together as a group and it's not just those two, even if they're pulling the wagon.
Head coach Kris Knoblauch was asked about the health of the lineup, and he noted that the team had a lot of fluctuation at the start of the season and didn't know who would play with whom. "Now everyone's where they should be, and we're starting to gain momentum."
The schedule made life hard, but the Oilers weathered the storm.
"I don't know that there's been a team that started their schedule as bad as ours was, with going to the East Coast twice, and the amount of road games, I believe we have 18 of our first 25 on the road. The worst part of it is over." "It's nice to know that we've gone through those difficult travel times. We are where we are right now."
Where the Oilers are, is in a very good place. Their stars are on fire, the team is coming together, the goalie (Connor Ingram) has two games under his belt and looks solid. Things are looking up and the games ahead of them almost all feel like big opportunties to do some serious damage in the standings.
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