Both Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen and MLive’s Ansar Khan posted notebook articles regarding the Red Wings’ hope of containing Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Jesse Puljujarvi this evening. Allen noted McDavid’s accomplishments…
The Red Wings will be looking to play keep-away against Connor McDavid and Draisaitl tonight when they face off at Little Caesars Arena at 7:30 p.m. (Bally Sports). Few teams have been successful against the twosome this season. Draisaitl has 23 points and McDavid 22 in the Oilers’ 9-1 start.
“They continue to get better and you can see it with the record Edmonton has,” Blashill said.
Draisaitl registered 10 points in his past three games, while McDavid has a point in every game the Oilers have played. In those 10 games, he has registered one point twice, two points four times, and three points four times. Recently, he went through four New York Rangers to score a spectacular goal that was the talk of the hockey world.
“It’s having the awareness to see the gap there,” Detroit’s Sam Gagner said about the goal. “He waits for guys to get onside and then he sees the opening. It’s one thing to see the opening. It’s another thing to be able to take two crossovers and be through it.”
And Khan noted that the Wings may start the Bertuzzi-Larkin-Raymond line opposite McDavid:
“If Larks’ line is out against them, I have no worries in any three of those players, Bert, Larks or Raymond. I think they’re all prepared for that challenge,” Blashill said. “Lucas is young (19), but he’s a very good two-way player, smart. No matter who’s out against them it’s a challenge. If you have one line out against them it’s another challenge because of how much they play, and at times they have really long shifts. We’ve been in this building where they’ve gone through three of our lines. Your whole team has to be ready to play against them, but I have confidence in Lucas.”
Raymond leads NHL rookies with six goals and 14 points. Seider is next with 10 points.
Draisaitl leads the league with 10 goals and 23 points. McDavid is next with 22 points.
McDavid created a buzz throughout the league last Friday when he tallied what figures to be the goal of the year, skating through four New York Rangers to score in a 6-5 overtime victory for the 9-1-0 Western Conference-leading Oilers.
“It’s having the awareness to see the gap there,” Detroit’s Sam Gagner said. “He waits for guys to get onside and then he sees an opening. It’s one thing to see the opening. It’s another thing to be able to take two crossovers and be through it.
“He’s so talented with his speed and skill, but it’s just the awareness that he has and the speed with which he’s able to make reads, it’s incredible. An amazing goal, but I mean it’s funny. Somebody was showing the goal yesterday and then they went through a whole montage of goals that might rival it. The fact that he has goals that rival that one, it’s pretty crazy. It’s special.”
