As the Oilers prepare for this game, all eyes around the NHL will have their eyes on the head to head matchup of Kucherov vs McDavid. The race to the Art Ross is tighter now than it was a year ago when nobody else in the league had even hit 90 points as McDavid made it to 100. Now, Kucherov is in the lead with fewer games played.

Connor McDavid has turned himself into a goal scorer as well as playmaker. His willingness to shoot from prime scoring areas and acknowledge that he is the player with the best chance to score has made him very unpredictable. Yesterday afternoon we saw that with his goal against Luongo (who was fighting it, in my opinion) where the Panther netminder was prepping for the pass across when McDavid turned and let one loose.

McDavid has had decent shot totals in his career and especially this season, but it’s not the totals. As everyone who watches on a regular basis can say, he has changed his approach to creating offense in the sense that now he isn’t looking to create the best chance for everyone else. He’s just looking for the best chance, period. He now has 19 goals in the 22 games since February 1st. Over that time, he has led the NHL in scoring with 19-16-35 and he’s tied for 3rd in the league in shots on net.

Based on that pace, McDavid has a fantastic opportunity to break the 100 point barrier again. Kucherov, for his part, has already established a new career high in points at 91. He is 6 goals away from reaching his high water mark there as well. The biggest difference between the two players has been the quality of teammates they’ve had. While McDavid is 27 points clear of his closest linemate, Kucherov has Stamkos riding shotgun and the Lightning star is having one hell of a rebound year.

Stamkos has 27-55-82 this year, which is his highest point total since 2011-2012. 27 goals is nothing to sneer at, but Stamkos is known as a shooter. He’s only ever had more assists than goals in a full season once in his career – and that was a 45 goal, 46 assist campaign. This new puck distributing version of Stamkos is still foreign to me, but that’s what’s making him dangerous.

I cant speak for Kucherov, but you can see it in McDavid’s game that winning the race is what he wants. I know they played last night, but this should be some must-watch hockey between the league’s two most prolific scorers.

LINEUP

RNH McDavid Rattie
Lucic Strome Puljujarvi
Caggiula Draisaitl Slepyshev
Pakarinen Khaira Aberg

Klefbom Bear
Nurse Larsson
Sekera Benning

Montoya

OILERS KEYS TO THE GAME

1) Rattie Feeling Good. I’m not going to argue that Ty Rattie belongs on the top line of the Oilers ahead of others, but I will say that at least yesterday he was a contributor. Everyone thought he scored the goal that was given credit to Larsson, but he got it back with the net empty. Rattie has been Bakersfield’s top offensive player all year. He has 21-22-43 in 53 AHL games this year. He’s had to pick up the pieces of his pro career and the expectations that people had when he was a WHL star for Portland. He’s no different than Pontus Aberg, IMO. There’s a player there, but what level can he succeed at?

2) Fighting for Family. Jujhar Khaira spoke about why stands up for his teammates and drops the gloves. To him, the team is his family and he wants to protect his family. I’m not one of those progressive types that hates fighting. Quite the opposite. When Khaira stood up for Kassian after he was blindside, he is sending a message to his team that the group is worth sacrificing yourself for. It’s worth putting yourself in danger for. I don’t believe in momentum or that fights lead to fewer injuries or any other baseless claims, but I do believe that THE PLAYERS believe these things. There’s a psychological aspect to this and Jujhar is doing his part to mend a broken team.

3) Stay Out Of The Box. Last night the Oilers were shorthanded 6 times while getting a Power Play just once. That’s a common theme this year. The Oilers have a -49 penalty differential, which is 31st in the NHL. They have a massive penalty deficit problem, and that’s even with McDavid owning the 4th best individual penalty differential in the league (+16). The Lightning have a deadly PP running at 24.0% overall and slightly better at home at 26.2%. Edmonton can’t tempt fate. 32 of Kucherov’s points are from the man-advantage. Staying out of the box tilts this head to head matchup well into McDavid’s favor.

Puck drops this afternoon at 3PM Mountain Time on Sportsnet West. Game On!

Follow me on Twitter @Archaeologuy

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