Game 42: Montreal Canadiens vs. Edmonton Oilers
Start time: 7:00 PM EST / 4:00 PM PST
In Canada: CBC (English), TVA Sports (French)
In the Sharks region: NBC Sports California
Streaming: CBC Gem, ESPN+, Sportsnet
It seems like a long time ago that there were serious concerns about the Edmonton Oilers missing a post-season appearance. Connor McDavid had called all of his teammates to training camp days ahead of schedule to start the season off right, and the club entered the season a Stanley Cup favourites. The team then started off with six losses in its first seven games, won the Heritage Classic outdoor game that was predicted to turn their season around, then proceeded to lose their next four matches. A loss to the San Jose Sharks (how embarrassing) on November 9 felt like a breaking point for the organization, and, sure enough, a few days later, head coach Jay Woodcroft was fired.
Now under a new coach, Kris Knoblauch, the Oilers have been looking more like the team pundits expected to see when the season began. They put together an eight-game winning streak shortly after the switch, and have currently won nine games in a row dating back to December 21. That run includes two back-to-backs and seven road games. It’s a team on a tear, and one that few opponents have been able to stop.
| Canadiens | Statistics | Oilers |
|---|---|---|
| 17-18-6 | Record | 22-15-1 |
| 45.4% (28th) | Scoring-chances-for % | 57.1% (2nd) |
| 2.71 (28th) | Goals per game | 3.53 (6th) |
| 3.39 (24th) | Goals against per game | 3.05 (14th) |
| 17.7% (22nd) | PP% | 25.4% (7th) |
| 73.0% (28th) | PK% | 81.2% (12th) |
| 1-1-0 | Head-to-Head Record | 1-1-0 |
Edmonton is being led by McDavid as it always is, but Zach Hyman is challenging Leon Draisaitl for second place on the team scoring list thanks to his 26 goals, 10 off the career high he set last season. Hyman has finished a game without a goal just two times during this winning streak, and has also added his third hat trick of the season.
There are five players on the roster with more points than the 34 that lead the Canadiens. One of them is 2011 first-overall pick Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who is quietly putting together another great season in McDavid’s shadow, though not a second straight 100-point campaign. Defenceman Evan Bouchard rounds out the point-per-game gang, with half of his 39 points coming on the power play.
So if you can contain their power play, you contain the team? Maybe you could say that a season ago when the Oilers finished with the best power play in league history but weren’t nearly as strong in other situations. This year they have taken their five-on-five play up a notch, and it’s largely because of last season’s deadline acquisition, Mattias Ekholm. The defenceman has an expected-goals-for percentage of 63.3%, and has allowed Bouchard to explore his full offensive potential on the top pairing. After years of getting by on talent, the Oilers are a true five-on-five powerhouse, the top NHL team in expected-goal share at 57.9%.
Despite that dominance, Edmonton is a middle-of-the-pack team in goals allowed and penalty-kill effectiveness. Now that the possibility of missing the playoffs isn’t a talking point, the perennial discussion about the team’s goaltending has taken over. It’s why there has been a link all season long between them and Montreal Canadiens netminder Jake Allen, who just happens to be getting this Saturday-night start at the Bell Centre over clear number one Samuel Montembeault.
At this point, Kent Hughes is banking on Allen’s veteran status being his main selling point. The on-ice results this year wouldn’t draw any interest on their own, as he holds just a .900 save percentage and has been in the net for eight of Montreal’s 18 regulation defeats — that’s after starting the season with a personal 3-0-1 record. You have to think Allen would need one of his best games of the season if the Oilers are going to maintain the interest they’ve reportedly shown.
