A clip went viral on Wednesday (Nov. 22) that showed Connor McDavid near tears as he sat on the bench at PNC Arena watching his team once again go down to defeat, their third in a row.
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Next to the Oilers captain was fellow superstar Leon Draisaitl, who gave a supportive tap to his best bud. McDavid tapped him back.
It was quite the visual, and of course drew all kinds of reactions. Some found it touching to see these two besieged brothers having each other’s back, while others who still have that “there’s no crying in baseball” mentality were critical of McDavid.
McDavid Shows His Emotions
Such raw emotion pouring out of the five-time Art Ross Trophy recipient likely was just wrought of everything that led to that moment. Never mind the last few years, in which an Oilers team blessed with generational talent has failed to realize its promise, just consider the last few weeks:
A shocking 8-1 loss to open the season. Two wins in the first 12 games. An injury from which McDavid may or may not be fully recovered. The biggest offensive slump of his career. A coaching change that he’s been accused of orchestrating. A season where nothing short of a Stanley Cup will suffice rapidly slipping into the abyss.
To see McDavid in this state was to know how much everything has affected him and should shut down any discussion about how much he cares. Clearly, he does. The question is, how does McDavid respond? Wilt when the going gets tough and throw in the towel on this season or fight with everything in his being to get the Oilers on track.
Well, if the Oilers’ latest game following the scene in Raleigh, North Carolina, is any indication, the answer is emphatically the latter because, on Friday (Nov. 24), the Oilers went into Capital One Arena and blew out a red-hot Washington Capitals team that had lost just once in regulation over the prior month, winning 5-0. And it was McDavid and Draisaitl leading the way: Edmonton’s captain registered four assists, tying his career high, and Draisaitl, who has been struggling in his own right, scored twice and added an apple.
McDavid & Draisaitl Pick Up the Pace
After recording just one point over the previous five games and going eight consecutive contests without a goal, McDavid now has four goals and six assists in the last six games. Draisaitl has three goals and eight assists in the last six contests, following a stretch of just two points in the prior five games.
Half of the 14 goals that the Dynamic Duo’s combined for this season have been scored since Kris Knoblauch replaced Jay Woodcroft as Oilers head coach on Nov. 12. Draisaitl and McDavid are still way off their blistering pace from last season when they lit the lamp 114 times between them, but they’re looking a lot closer to their Hart Trophy-winning selves of late.
The problem is that Draisaitl and McDavid can only do so much. A big part of Edmonton’s ongoing plight is a lack of depth scoring, and that is even more pronounced than ever this season. The bottom six has scored in only three of the Oilers’ first 19 games and accounted for just six goals total (two each from Sam Gagner and Derek Ryan, one apiece from James Hamblin and Dylan Holloway). Without getting substantially more production from their third and fourth lines, it will be difficult for the Oilers to make up the eight points that currently separate them from the playoffs, no matter how phenomenal Draisaitl and McDavid play.
Big Week Ahead for Oilers
The rest of November is huge for the Oilers, with matchups at Rogers Place tonight (Nov. 26) versus the Anaheim Ducks and Tuesday (Nov. 28) against the Vegas Golden Knights, followed by a road game against the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday (Nov. 30). They will then have a five-day break before hosting the Hurricanes on Dec. 6.
Edmonton needs to maximize its next three games because the gap between the Oilers and a playoff spot is only likely to grow when they’re stuck on the sidelines for nearly a week, watching as the teams ahead of them continue to pick up points.
The schedule is particularly unfortunate for the Oilers, as the extended break threatens to disrupt whatever momentum they might be able to generate beforehand. But if Edmonton can stay in the playoff picture, it will have a lot of opportunity to gain ground, with 12 games the rest of December.
Pulling this team into the postseason would be one of McDavid’s great feats. Should that happen, we might be able to look back at that moment on the bench as the turning point of the Oilers’ season.