Connor McDavid Makes Nashville Predators Look Like A Peewee Team With Unbelievable Goal
Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers is the best player in the NHL, and he scored the first of what will probably be a handful of Goal of the Year candidates on Tuesday in Nashville.
While some (not me) had Edmonton pegged as a Cup favorite before the season it's been a slow start for the Oilers. They ran into the surprise buzzsaw that is the Vancouver Canucks and lost both games of a season-opening home and home series. They lost 8-1 on the road, and then 5-3 in Edmonton.
So, the winless Edmonton Oilers (I don't think they'll win the Cup but didn't think we'd say that two games into the season either) hit the road, and their first stop on a quick two-game trip was Nashville.
The Oilers hit their stride in Music City. They were already up 3-0 in the first period when McDavid decided to go ahead and momentarily make the Predators look like an in-house peewee team.
McDavid Scores Early Goal of the Year Candidate
McDavid broke past three Predators in the neutral zone, then chipped the puck around a fourth defender just before the far blueline.
It looked like the play had broken up, but this is Connor McDavid we're talking about. Despite falling and doing a 360 on his knees, McDavid tracked down the loose puck and fired it past Juuse Saros.
Ew. Just ew.
I know this is about McDavid, but it has to be said: What the hell was Alexandre Carrier doing on this play? I can’t figure out how he whiffed on the puck at the blue line. Did he take the wrong angle and it just fooled him? I'm not sure how he didn't at least get a piece of that loose puck.
If he scoops that puck up that play is finished, McDavid doesn’t score a highlight reel goal, and the Predators are going back the other way.
But he didn’t and McDavid made the Predators pay by adding to the Oilers' lead.
The Oilers went on to win this one 6-1 for their first victory of the season.
They'll be back in action on Thursday against the Philadelphia Flyers. On Tuesday night, the Flyers defeated the same Canucks team that gave the Oilers trouble by a score of 2-0.
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