The Edmonton Oilers won their fifth straight game Friday night with a victory over the Vancouver Canucks, continuing an unexpected start to the 2016-2017 season.
The Oilers have the best record in the NHL’s western conference at 7-1-0, which is the team’s best start in over 30 years.
READ MORE: Talbot and McDavid lead Edmonton Oilers over Vancouver Canucks
There are list of reasons Edmonton has gone from being one of the worst teams in the league over the past several seasons to sitting at the top of the west eight games into the year.
Here are five of the primary reasons:
- Connor McDavid – The 19-year-old is living up to the hype. The Oilers captain has five goals and seven assists for 12 points, which puts him at the top of the NHL’s point race. His ridiculous speed and skill have been on full display. What makes McDavid even more frightening for opponents is it seems he has more to give, particularly on the power play where he has yet to score a goal and has been hesitant to shoot the puck.
- Cam Talbot – After some shaky starts at the beginning of the season, Talbot has more than settled into his role as the Oilers No. 1 netminder. He’s coming off shutouts in two of his last three starts, and now has the most wins in the league and sits in the top 10 for goals against average and save percentage.
- Kris Russell – After some lean years on the blue line (to put it mildly), the Oilers defence has improved greatly so far. Edmonton is allowing the fewest goals per game in the western conference and Russell has arguably been the team’s best defenceman to this point. The 29-year-old is a plus seven and has 25 blocked shots, which is tied for second-most in the NHL. He’s been a steadying force on the second pairing alongside Andrej Sekera.
- Size – Some of their early opponents have already commented about it: Edmonton is no longer a pushover. General manager Peter Chiarelli wanted the Oilers to be bigger and stronger and he’s accomplished that goal. Over the past two seasons, he’s added bigger forwards like Patrick Maroon, Zack Kassian and Milan Lucic. The additional size helped Edmonton in a long list of ways, including winning more battles in corners and having players who are tough to knock off the puck.
- Milan Lucic – The big man has been as good as advertised to this point. He has seven points in eight games and is a plus five. Besides the numbers, Lucic has brought leadership and much-needed toughness (as exhibited in the season opener when he dropped the gloves with Calgary’s Deryk Engelland after a hit on McDavid). The 28-year-old is a rare commodity for the franchise: a talented player in his prime who knows what it takes to win a Stanley Cup.
READ MORE: Edmonton Oilers navigate new challenge: success
After wrapping up October with a home game against Ottawa Sunday, Edmonton’s schedule will get more challenging in November, when 10 of the team’s 15 games are on the road. November could prove whether the Oilers are a true playoff team – and perhaps more – or if their great start is simply an anomaly.
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