The slumping Vancouver Canucks are hoping this isn’t the perfect storm when they host three-time NHL MVP Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday night.
McDavid, who had his 20-game point streak snapped in Thursday’s 1-0 loss to the New York Islanders, has had off nights before but rarely does he fire blanks two games in a row. The last time it happened was last season in back-to-back January games against Anaheim and Seattle.
“This week’s been crazy for us,” said McDavid at Thursday morning’s practice. “You have to be good at bouncing back from losses. We have had a tough time getting on a good run. But we have responded well to losses.”
McDavid, who will play in his first Olympics next month in Italy, leads the league in scoring with 82 points and is on pace for 51 goals and over 140 points this season. He had 19 goals and 46 points during the streak.
The seven-time All-Star will be eager to get back on the ice against the Canucks. The streak was the longest of his career and the longest in the NHL since the Toronto Maple Leafs’ Mitch Marner had a 23-game run in the 2022-23 season.
McDavid and the Canucks also have a history. Last season, McDavid was slapped with a three-game suspension for a cross-check to the head of pesky Canucks forward Conor Garland.
Goaltender Connor Ingram made 17 saves against the Islanders for the Oilers, who have lost three of their last four games (1-1-2).
“We had a lot of good scoring chances 5-on-5, on the power play and 6-on-5. We did pretty much everything but put the puck in the net,” said Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch.
Shots were tied 12-12 in the first period, while the Oilers outshot New York 13-4 in the second. The Islanders had just six shots on goal over the last 40 minutes of the game.
“Sometimes you win games you don’t deserve and sometimes they go the other way,” said Knoblauch. “If we play like that, more often than not we’ll get the result we want.”
The Canucks, who are in last place in the league with 37 points, got a much needed Friday off before hosting Edmonton. They capped a winless six-game road trip with a 4-1 loss to Columbus on Thursday. It was also their ninth loss in a row (0-7-2).
They are one defeat shy of matching a franchise-record 10-game losing streak set during the 1997-98 season.
“There was a couple of mishaps,” coach Adam Foote said of the loss to the Blue Jackets. “We can’t accept that.
“We are going home and we have a big challenge here with Edmonton. We have to be better. This isn’t good enough.”
As the Canucks head into an eight-game homestand, leading scorer Kiefer Sherwood (17 goals) has just one goal in his last 10 games. There was a small consolation Thursday when forward Brock Boeser scored to end a 21-game scoring drought.
“It definitely feels good,” said Boeser. “But it doesn’t feel that good because of the result of the game.
“We are going through some tough times right now and one way to get out of tough times is hard work. Our team needs to understand that.”
This is the third game of a four-game season series with each team winning in their home arena back in October. Sherwood tallied the game-winner in overtime on Oct. 26.
They meet again on April 16 in Edmonton in the last game of the regular season for both teams.
