McDavid wills Oilers to uplifting win over Blue Jackets

Monday night could’ve gone really bad for the Edmonton Oilers.

Down 3-1 in the dying seconds of the second period to the Columbus Blue Jackets, the boo birds were out in full swing, and rightfully so. The team had just stunk Rogers Place out two nights prior, and it looks like the Oilers were well on track to do so again.

All this, mind you, after Trent Frederic fought the toughest pound-for-pound player in the league, Mathieu Olivier, in the first period, getting bloodied to boot. While the scrap had brought some energy to the team, who for the first time all season seemed to have some fight in them, a putrid second period left a sour taste in the mouths of fans.

But Connor McDavid wasn’t going to let that stand.

Just 58 seconds into the third frame, he put Blue Jackets defenceman Danton Mateychuk in a blender, spinning and firing a backhander that would beat Jet Greaves on the far side. Amid a career full of highlight reel goals, this was one of his best. Adam Fantilli would respond with a goal minutes later to take a 4-2 lead, but McDavid wasn’t going to let the Oilers go down easy.

This time he drove hard to the net, creating space and tucking a goal into the far side of the net.

He wasn’t the only one who had magic in their hands, though, as Jake Walman would throw a puck on net with 58 seconds left in the period that bounced off Olivier’s stick and into Columbus’ net, setting the stage for a Jack Roslovic Revenge Game goal that would ice it in overtime.

“Connor wasn’t going to let us lose tonight,” said Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch. “He was so focused on getting the job done.

“I’ve seen Connor rise to the occasion and play some tremendous games, and I’m not going to say this was his best game that I’ve seen him play, but under the circumstances, it’s got a rate up there… He had an incredible night, two fabulous goals, but there was just so much determination to his game that it was like, it’s not going to happen again tonight, and he just willed the team to win.”

The final result of the game was an undeniable breath of fresh air for the Oilers, who needed a win in the worst kind of way. Sure, it wasn’t pretty and the Oilers’ warts were there, but it was the kind of game that could rejuvenate this team.

Two years ago, it was a 5-0 win over the Washington Capitals in late November that sparked an eight-game winning streak that changed their season. Last year, a 6-2 late November win over the New York Rangers sparked an 11-2 run that lasted until Christmas.

The Oilers now have more warts than those teams did, and there’s no saying that they could go on such a run now — especially considering the seven-game slog of a road trip they’re about to embark on — but a win like this will make them breathe a little easier.

“It was a big win. This was a big win at home before going on a long stretch here after obviously what happened on Saturday,” said McDavid. “So it felt like a little bit more of a bigger game than you usually get in November, and I thought it showed. We hung on and hung on right to the end to tie it and won a game.”

What lies next is, as referenced above, a slog. It kicks of Wednesday night in Philadelphia with a visit to the Flyers, before a rubber match Thursday in Columbus. Then, stops include the Carolina Hurricanes, Buffalo Sabres, Washington Capitals, Tampa Bay Lightning and finally the Florida Panthers on November 22nd, capping off the road trip.

Edmonton will have five of the last seven days of the month off in what will surely be a much needed break by that point, but in the meantime, they can’t squander this seven-game set.