Buying a ticket to an Edmonton Oilers game does not in itself guarantee you'll see Connor McDavid do something so spectacular you'll remember it for the rest of your life. From my personal experience, it's more likely that he'll semi-quietly rack up a couple of assists. Nevertheless, you'll almost always get at least a glimpse of what makes him so special. It happens, typically, in the space between the center line and the attacking zone. McDavid will accelerate in a way that doesn't really compute, because you haven't seen anyone move that quickly all night. It's a bolt of lightning out of a clear blue sky. It's like someone just bumped up his speed attribute by 10 points, and you can see the defense panic a little in response. You understand that they have only a tiny window to respond to his aggression; you see that to some extent they're just hoping to get lucky.
Because scoring a goal is very, very hard, sometimes they do get lucky. But on Monday against Columbus, McDavid made it all the way. Twice. With Edmonton reeling from a 9-1 loss to the Avalanche (in which they played not zero, but two goalies), the captain who signed that cheap little extension at the start of this season helped pilot them to a dramatic overtime comeback win with a pair of goals that'll make year-end highlight reels.
The first one makes me laugh, though not in a cruel way. I just keep marveling at how easy he made it look, like he knew exactly what trick he was going to pull the instant he received the pass at center, and then just hit his marks. Without telegraphing his intentions at all, he executed a tight spin that sent his defender stumbling. That was only part one; the clincher was a backhand right out of the spin that flew into the net untouched by Jet Greaves's blocker.
The Jackets still held a 4-2 lead with under seven minutes to go, but McDavid's second goal poured some gas on the Oiler offense. Three Columbus men bunched up in one corner as they made a clearance, and when Edmonton knocked the puck down in the neutral zone, McDavid knew exactly how to take advantage. Before the Jackets could reset, he absorbed a pass and zoomed in along the opposite-side boards, gaining a step on the defense that they could never make up. Using his body to fend off any challenges, he cut across the crease and made his deposit just beyond Greaves's skate.
This skin-of-their-teeth win brings the Oilers' record to an unconvincing 7-6-4, with just two regulation victories in their last 14 games. That's a recipe for another "What's wrong with the Oilers?" news cycle in the near future. (I'll save you the time: It's the goalies again.) But after two straight trips to the Stanley Cup Final, this group has earned a certain benefit of the doubt—especially this early in a regular season, where the difference between fourth and 11th in the conference standings is just a couple of loser points. All that really matters is staying healthy and ready for the months that count.
