Assessing the Connor McDavid goal draws an inevitable comparison to Orr: 9 Things

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The 9-and-1 Oilers have all but knocked it out of the park over the 1 ^st 10 games of the season.

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Now, the club takes those 18 points on the road for what surely will be an even tougher test of their mettle. And they’ll do so with the vision of their captain in that Rangers game still dancing in their heads.

Some historical thoughts on “the goal” and much more in this edition of…

9 Things

9. In addition to appearing on the SportsNet Regional telecast between-period panels, Craig MacTavish will also become a regular, re-occurring guest Reid Wilkins’s Inside Sports radio program.

8. After the offensive outbursts last season by Darnell Nurse and Tyson Barrie , many said they would be unlikely to repeat those numbers. Well, after putting up 0.64 points/game last year, Nurse is averaging 0.88/game this season. Tyson Barrie put up points at .86/game clip last year and isn’t far off that pace at 0.80/per thus far into 2021-22.

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7. Edmonton is an offensive juggernaut. They lead the NHL in Goals For per game with 4.4. And their Power Play is #1 by a mile at an astonishing 50%. Defensively, the Oilers are just shy of the middle of the pack. They are 19 ^th in Goals Against per game. Their 234 scoring chances against is also 19 ^th best. In terms of high danger chances against Edmonton sits 21 ^st . Their PK, though, is 6 ^th .

6. Devin Shore left Friday’s game with an injury. Early indications are that he will miss some time. That being the case, logic dictates that Ryan McLeod will be recalled from Bakersfield. That could happen as early as Sunday monring. The Oilers PK will miss Shore, he’s effective in that role. But McLeod is a better natural Center. And if he can get into the guts of the game more, McLeod may never see Bakersfield again. We will have to see.

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5. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins continues to lead the NHL with 14 assists. That the Nuge hasn’t scored yet is a minor detail within the context of just how well both he and the club are playing. I wonder how much the contract year weighed on his mind throughout 2021? Nugent-Hopkins looks more comfortable and confident so far this campaign. And he touches so many different aspects of the game in a substantial way.

4. After Darnell Nurse averaged 25:38 of TOI per night in 2021, there was some indication that the club would try to get those minutes down a bit in 2021-22. So far? Nurse has averaged 26:06. So much for that idea! The issue hasn’t been Duncan Keith , who has logged a healthy 19:44. It’s that LHS 3-hole. Slater Koekkoek has played just 10:29 in 7 games. Kris Russell has skated 12:45 but in just 3 outings. And neither have been great, so far.

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3. Mikko Koskinen has generally been very good. But after he allowed the 3-1 goal on Friday, I commented that “I think you want your goaltender to have that one”. Not everyone agreed. I get that there was a turnover and a bit of a deflection. What I really meant was that it was at a point in the game where a team needed their goaltender to hold the fort. On a night when we watched Kevin Lowe’s #4 rise to the rafters one couldn’t help but see Grant Fuhr’s #31 next to it. Fuhr specialized in big situational saves. Unfair to compare Koskinen to a Hall of Famer? O.K.  But teams that win get those saves.

2. Only 2 players in NHL history have recorded more 3-point outings (6) than Leon Draisaitl through the 1 ^st 10 games of a regular season. Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky both have done in 7 times. With his 10 ^th goal last night, Draisaitl is also the 1 ^st Oiler since Glenn Anderson in 1985 to accomplish that feat in their 1 ^st 10 games of a campaign. But as fun as those historical records are, what’s far more important is that Draisaitl is playing the best 2-way hockey of his career. He’s leading the NHL in both points (23) and in +/- (+12). He’s winning 57% of his draws. And he’s averaging almost 3 entire minutes more per night than his career average.

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1.What superlatives haven’t already been used to describe Connor McDavid’s goal on Friday night? I’m not sure I can improve upon what has already been written about his spectacular effort by many other fine scribes. One of my regular readers asked where the goal ranked among the best I had seen, all-time. I answered in the moment that it was top 10 for sure. Later that night, to see just where this one did rank in my own memory banks, I ended up watching a bunch of old game film of Bobby Orr . Let me tell you, that was time very well spent.

Bobby scored a hi-light reel goal against the 1971 edition of the L.A. Kings in comparable fashion. The play started at the attacking blueline as a 1-on-4. Then, Orr suddenly stomped on the gas and went from 0 to 60 in a blink. He beat all 4 L.A. defenders and finally Kings goaltender Jack Norris with a shot from the high slot. It wasn’t exactly the same as Connor’s. Less of a forest of legs and sticks for Bobby to contend with. Orr with blue-line duties to see to in the other direction.

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No doubt McDavid would be just fine being compared to Bobby Orr. And that is indeed the level of superstardom we are left to debate. Two real key differences between the Orr and the McDavid goals, though: That edition of the L.A. Kings was plain awful (20-49-9 on the season). And the circumstances of the McDavid goal on Friday were just so critical in the moment. So much more consequential that the “Orr in L.A.” example. A different stage.

Truly great players like Orr have the knack and ability to rise to the occasion. And on Friday night in Rogers lace…it was Connor McDavid’s turn to do just that.

Find me on Twitter @KurtLeavins

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