This is now exclusively an Auston Matthews/Toronto Maple Leafs Blog

It was the biggest Maple Leafs goal of my lifetime (I think). I still have to brush up on the history of hockey's mecca team; but I knew then on that Sunday night that Auston Matthews was my guy.



It ended in futility for the Leafs, being eliminated in game six of the playoffs by the Capitols. They lost 2-1 in the final period.

But really, Auston Matthews had peaked my interest from the very beginning. The night he made his NHL debut, and scored four goals. It was something right out of a storybook.



Very soon, I will be writing about the Leafs daily on this blog. I am going to blog about hockey as hard as I ever have. I'm going to head to Toronto to visit the Hall of Fame and see a Leafs game this upcoming season. Get ready for the Auston Matthews era of Hockey Night the Blog.

The Columbus Blue Jackets have won 16 Games in a Row

[Blue Jackets 3, Oilers 1]

[Jackets Cannon]

The Oilers just didn't have much tonight for the suffocating, mauling Columbus Blue Jackets. I was there to see game number 16 in a row. The streak rolls onward, and the Jackets are now one game from tying the all-time record of 17 wins in a row by the 1992-1993 Pittsburgh Penguins. Unbelievable. 

The Blue Jackets just seem to get stronger as the game goes on instead of folding like they did in the past third periods under different regimes. It's very easy to see if you're there live. 

The Zamboni is doing it's job before the game got started. 

Patrick Maroon had an assist tonight and got into a scuffle. This isn't up on Hockey Fights but I think that Maroon won. 

Connor McDavid had a slow night. He had two breakaways, won three face offs, had two shots on goal, but couldn't log anything else that would show up in the box score. He also had some time in the penalty box. Still great to see his talent live. 

Here's Todd McClellan, who has the Oilers at 19-13-7. 

McDavid serving time in the penalty box. I think it was tripping. The crowd erupted when he entered. 

A better shot of McDavid in the box. 

Seregei Bobrovsky in between the pipes. The guy is on fire right now. He's just not allowing two goals a game during this streak very often. He's a monster. I don't think that the Oilers got 20 shots on him. 

The anthemist, Leo Welsh getting balls deep on the Canadian anthem. He's real good. 

Great shot I got of the jumbotron during the Canadian anthem. 

All in all, a fun night. I wish the Oilers could have snapped the streak. I lost a shitload of money on the Oilers tonight, I thought they would do it. The Blue Jackets are just a monster, devouring everything in their path right now. I think that when you look at the fact they beat the Penguins (second in the NHL right now) 7-1 during this streak and have beaten several teams 10-0 this season, it's a testament to the Oilers only getting beat 3-1. 

My friend Justin and I dined at Mongolian BBQ tonight before the game. Glad to have made my pilgrimmage to Nationwide Arena to see the Oilers like I do each year. Hopefully I get back; maybe I'll go to a playoff game. 

The Edmonton Oilers are 4-1-0

[Box Score]
[Oilers Nation]

The Oilers get so little coverage, I couldn't even find photos of this game worthy of going on the blog. But alas, we've reached a high point in my fandom of the Edmonton Oilers since I started following them in 2010. It was 2011 that they began the season 8-4 and I thought the likes of Taylor Hall, Teddy Peckham and others were onto something. They finished that season 32-40-10. It blended in with all the other Oilers seasons.

But the Oilers have a new feel, a mostly new roster, and a new arena they're defending with an attitude.

Tonight, Connor McDavid refused to go scoreless for a third straight game which he has never done in his career. He set up on a Milan Lucic goal (Lucic's second as an Oiler) to give Edmonton a 2-1 lead and scored an empty netter which leads off this post in the game's final minute to seal the 3-1 win.

The Blues are a solid club to beat, entering the game at 3-0-1.

The Blues only goal was of course, a Nail Yakupov goal to give St. Louis a 1-0 lead. Pitlick scored quickly after that to tie it, and how nice; the Oilers seem to answer scores this season.

At the moment, Edmonton only trails Vancouver in the division standings. They take on the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday in the outdoor Heritage Classic.

Linkies

The Edmonton Oilers play again tonight at 9:00 PM. It's our job to carry over until that point and get some quality hockey links up. Every year this time of year we write a lot about hockey.

• Auston Matthews is ready (four goals, NHL Debut ready). [Deadspin]
• Evander Kane, hurt real bad. [Twitter]
• The Columbus Blue Jackets lost the most Columbus Blue Jacket game ever in their home opener last night. [Puck Rakers]
• Top analytics expert rips Oilers for Taylor Hall trade to New Jersey Devils. [Cult of Hockey]
• Jack Eichel is hurt pretty bad, which sucks for my fantasy team. [Die by the Blade]
• The Pens raised their Stanley Cup banner. [Puck Daddy]

Oilers win the first game at Rogers Place 7-4 behind Captain Connor

[Box Score]
[Cult of Hockey]

Connor McDavid had two goals and an assist last night. Milan Lucic got in a fight to defend the Edmonton captain, and the Oilers are 1-0 in their new arena and with McDavid wearing the 'C'.

Here's McDavid's game-winning goal against Brian Elliot on a penalty shot:

Connor McDavid is named the Oilers Captain

McDavid joins a legendary group of #Oilers captains. pic.twitter.com/sizbyIwtsR

— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) October 5, 2016

Connor McDavid has deservingly been named the youngest team captain in NHL History.

Here's the list:

Connor McDavid – 19 years, 266 days
Gabriel Landeskog – 19 years, 286 days
Sidney Crosby – 19 years, 297 days
Vincent Lecavalier – 19 years, 315 days
Jonathan Toews – 20 years, 80 days
Steve Yzerman – 21 years, 151 days
Jim Schoenfeld – 21 years, 362 days

I saw Connor McDavid play live

There's a lot of cool places in this world I haven't been to yet. There's a lot of athletes I'll never see play. But I will live and die knowing I saw Connor McDavid play and score his 13th goal of his career live. Here it was:

Some other notes from the game:

• The head linesman Darren Gibbs got hit with a puck off the stick of Mark Fayne and had to leave the game.
• I caught a Blue Jackets t-shirt. 
• Taylor Hall scored on a powerplay, his 22nd of the season. Connor McDavid on the assist.

• Leon Draisatl had his 17th goal of the season.
• The Oilers gifted three goals back to Columbus within :45 of scoring each of their own. Totally pathetic. 

Connor McDavid: 1, Jack Eichel: 0

[Event Summary]

[Cult of Hockey] [Die by the Blade]

I'm sad I wasn't watching this one on NHL Gamecentre. I missed one of Connor McDavid's first true great moments. 

He opened up scoring with his quickest goal to open a game in his career. Just :22 into the ballgame, McDavid got his 11th goal of the season on a little backhander. It looked easy. 

Then in overtime with about 80 seconds left before a shootout, Jack Eichel missed the Oilers goal. McDavid gets the puck at the bottom of the screen and decided to use his speed; his finest tool, to take the game and deliver it to the Oilers.



It was McDavid's second goal of the night, the game-winner in OT; and his 12th of the season. Clearly, the guy has the edge over a fine young player in Jack Eichel.

In what is shaping up to be another miserable season for the 24-34-7 Oilers, McDavid did all the work and delivered the Oilers a win in Buffalo.

Connor McDavid's first Five-Point Game

[Event Summary]

[Cult of Hockey]

Connor McDavid notched his first five-point game of his young career, and his eighth and ninth goals of his rookie season in a 5-2 Oilers win against the team that felt it was their given right to have him. 

The night was special because he set up Jordan Eberle three times for Eberle's first hat-trick of his career. 

Goal #1


Goal #2 (One of the first real shots I've seen him score on)


The Oilers lost a few tough games since this one. But this will no doubt go down of the first HUGE game of McDavid's career and it came against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Connor McDavid returns in Edmonton with a Goal

[Event Summary]

[Cult of Hockey] [CBC] [NHL.com]

You just knew it was coming last night. When it was announced that Connor McDavid would make his return against the Columbus Blue Jackets, you knew he was going to do something dramatic. That's the way he is. 

He scored his sixth goal of the season, possibly his most jaw-dropping one yet in his career; and it ripped the roof off Rexall place as the Oilers won the game 5-1 and took a 2-1 lead on the McDavid score tally.

He also added two other assists, which is a pretty common occurrence/just another night at the office for McJesus. The Oilers sit at 20-26-5 and have to keep it going to get back in things. It's great to see McDavid back on the ice at full speed and continuing his magical rookie year just as he was before he got hurt.

Connor McDavid is progressing from injury more quickly than expected

Man, it's great to hear this. I will soon have a reason to follow hockey again closely.

Though no one would offer a firm date for McDavid’s return, at this rate the betting is that he could be back in the Edmonton Oilers lineup in mid-to-late January, rather than the early March return originally forecasted by the team.

“He’s ahead of schedule,” Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli confirmed from Detroit on Thursday. “He’s been in the pool, been lifting weights… There are no soft tissue injuries, which is important. When you get a break like that, oftentimes there is accompanying soft tissue injuries. That slows down the recovery.”

The Oilers are playing right now against the Pittsburgh Penguins and holding a surprising lead. I am in New Jeresy and ready to head back to Ohio and get back into the groove of following the Oilers each night.

I want this card

Connor McDavid Upper Deck Young Guns. It's the sports card of the year. Now, does anyone have $300 I can borrow?

Magical Hockey Night

[Blue Jackets 5, Phoenix Coyotes 2]

[NHL.com] [Puck Rakers]

I finally saw the Columbus Blue Jackets get their first home win of the season, in mid November. Last night I went to R-Bar before the game, looks like an awesome hockey bar. Way too packed to look around, I am hoping to return when no one is in there. 

Loved the urinals at R-Bar, with the rivals of the Blue Jackets posted on them. 

I truly enjoyed the seats last night more than I have really at any of the games I've been at. I could really see the play develop up high. It was just a perfect view and a nice chilly night at the arena. I love that feeling when there's a nip in the air at the arena. You know you're at a hockey game. 

The awful tragedy in Paris the night before prompted for a moment of silence. I have to say, it was weird being at a major pro sporting event the day after. I am thankful to God that no incidents happened. 

The finest of DFS NHL lineups I'll ever post, a 72.7 on Fanduel. It wasn't in a tourney. Nathan Mackinnon went top shelf in Montreal twice in the same 18 seconds. 

I can always say I say Ryan Johansen score a goal. He played a good ballgame last night.



Also tallying goals were Anthony Duclair and Oliver Ekman-Larrson.

And of course, they blared this awesome somng on the loudspeakers.

Nooooooo! God No

As far as I'm concerned, hockey season may have ended tonight. This is absolutely fucking horrible. The Oilers are completely cursed.

Halloween Night Heartbreak in the Battle of Alberta (Flames win 5-4)

[Event Summary]

[Cult of Hockey]

It was a weird night, featuring many weird goals. The Oilers once again got behind early because of the poor play of Goalie Cam Talbot; and overcame a 4-2 deficit behind the phenomenal play of Taylor Hall and Leon Draisatl to tie the game 4-4.

The game ended in complete heartbreak when Michael Frolik scored this strange goal from basically behind the net to complete his hat-trick. That happened with nine seconds remaining in the game.

It's a shame, because it wasted an effort from Taylor Hall who scored a goal and had two assists. Connor McDavid's point streak ends at seven games after a goal that he had an assist on was waived off.

It could have been a memorable, special hockey night in Edmonton. Instead, just a frustrating heartbreak that had me turning off the game.

Leon Draisatl had two assists and a goal. He's done some serious damage in two games.

Puck Daddy Talks about NHL Figures from Imports Dragon

I already have my Connor McDavid on preorder.

Puck Daddy has a good feature on these NHL figurines.

TSN: McDavid better than we thought?

Travis Yost of TSN writes a really nice article about Connor McDavid's humble beginnings:

Everyone knew Connor McDavid would be good. Great, even. But perhaps we need to calibrate even our short-term expectations for him in Edmonton. If McDavid’s this comfortable after just 10 games at the NHL-level, where is he going to be by year two? Scary thought, that.

And the first two comments on the article are kind of cool:

Oilers beat Montreal Canadiens 4-3 in an incredible comeback from 3-0, Leon Draisatl debut

Draisatl was the first star with two goals in his NHL debut.

[Event Summary]

[Cult of Hockey]

Connor McDavid was once again the top story when you look at five things Sportsnet focused on from a busy night in the NHL. Even with Leon Draisatl making his NHL debut and scoring two goals, including the game winner. 

Here's McDavid's assist to Pouliot, which tied the game:

McDavid now has points in the last seven games. He has five goals and seven assists. Here was the other assist that he and Darnell Nurse were involved in.

And of course, the Draisatl game-winner:



It was like Rocky cutting down the Russian in Rocky IV. The Oilers have hung a second loss on the Canadiens in what was a tremendous hockey game. Carey Price is apparently now human. Connor McDavid, is not. The Oilers are now 4-7-0 and perhaps they will now reach a turning point in their young season.

On Saturday night, another Battle of Alberta in Edmonton.

Some NHL DFS Success

Had this bad boy entered in a tournament just before action got started.... and wouldn't you know the tournament was filled. Really sucks, and DFS in general really sucks.

Darnell Nurse's Debut Spoiled by two late goals

[Event Summary]

[Cult of Hockey]

Everyone was highly anticipating the debut of Darnell Nurse, and he did not disappoint. In fact, Nurse and Connor McDavid were probably the biggest highlights on the night for the Oilers.

What I'll remember from this game, is Nurse's unbelievable slapshot to give the Oilers the lead on his first career goal; and Connor McDavid's sick stick moves that almost juked Devan Dubnyk out of his skates. Nurse also showed exceptional fire and speed.



McDavid logged his 5th assist of the season on a Taylor Hall goal, Hall's fourth of the season. It seems like McDavid is just scoring every game. This has gone on well over a week now. Hall also added his fourth assist.

There is some talk - and lack of evidence - that this incarnation of the Oilers in 2015-2016 is no better than past iterations. Edmonton is 3-7-0 and has Montreal coming to town off a loss tomorrow night. This is enormous trouble, and the Oilers will need a strong homestand to turn the season around; or it could be another lost year in this final season at Rexall.