Despite winning two of three games in his absence, the Edmonton Oilers (31-15-3) will be happy to have captain Connor McDavid in their lineup against the Seattle Kraken (22-25-3) on Monday night now that he has finished serving his three-game suspension.
McDavid was suspended for three games by the NHL earlier this month for a cross-check he delivered to the head of the Vancouver Canucks forward Conor Garland toward the end of a game.
If the Oilers are able to earn a win over the Kraken at Rogers Place on Monday, the team will move ahead of the Vegas Golden Knights to recapture first place in the Pacific Division. The Oilers’ 3-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday vaulted them into the division lead but the Golden Knights bumped Edmonton into second place on Sunday when the Las Vegas team won against the Florida Panthers.
“We have such a tight division that it’s still anyone’s game, the points are so close,” Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner said after his team played on Saturday. “For us, the mindset has got to be, obviously it’s great to be in first place, but let’s try to get some more points here and keep playing the same way that we’ve been playing and hopefully we can run with it a little bit.
“The way that we’ve been playing, it says a lot about the group and how mature we are and how much mental resiliency we have.”
Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch spoke Saturday about how finishing high in the division is beneficial in terms of attaining home-ice advantage in the playoffs.
“(It can make) that road a little easier on us, whether it’s shortening a series or having home ice in a Game 7 situation — we were fortunate enough to win one Game 7 on the road (last season), but we didn’t win the other one,” he explained.
“It just helps you along the way to finish at the top.”
The Oilers have a 7-3-0 record in their last 10 games while the Kraken have gone 5-5-0 in the same number of games. Edmonton has a 17-8-1 record at home this season while Seattle has gone 10-14-0 on the road.
Edmonton is in the middle of a six-game homestand, the longest homestand the hockey club will have in the regular season.
–with files from The Canadian Press’ Shane Jones