It was a rare moment when my colleague caught me off guard.
“I believe that Connor McDavid will score ten empty net goals this year,” said Rob Brown on Friday’s edition of Overtime Openline.
McDavid had sealed a 5-3 pre-season win over the Seattle Kraken with an empty netter. He was on the ice with two other high-scoring teammates, Leon Draisaitl and Evander Kane. They assisted on the goal.
“You always want to be out there in those situations,” said Kane after Saturday’s practice. “First and foremost, the job is to keep the puck out of the net. But when you get an opportunity to strike, you really end the game.”
The Oilers scored 21 empty net goals in 2021/22. McDavid had seven of them, while Draisailtl and Kane had three each. Head coach Jay Woodcroft said it’s a situational decision as to who he puts out late in games to protect a lead. Many nights, his top guns have been the best choice.
“The priority is to seal the win, but if there’s a way to keep the other team on the back foot, I don’t see anything wrong with that as well,” said Woodcroft.
“I think we all have an idea what to do when a guy gets the puck with a little bit of time. It’s important to have one guy go and not everybody. I think we do a pretty good of that,” added Kane.
The league record for empty net goals in a season is nine, shared by Alex Ovechkin (2021/22) and Pavel Bure (1999/2000). Rob is comfortable believing McDavid will set a new mark.
“I believe the Oilers are going to be a very good hockey club. They’re going to have the lead late in hockey games a lot. Leon likes setting up empty net goals more than scoring them,” Rob explained.
As for the all-time leader in empty net goals? No surprise, it’s Wayne Gretzky with 56. McDavid sits at 17. Rob Brown? He had four.
On Saturday, forward Brad Malone placed on waivers. Defenceman Markus Niemelainen was assigned to Bakersfield.
The Oilers have Sunday off. They’ll practice Monday and Tuesday in preparation for Wednesday’s regular season opener against Vancouver at Rogers Place (630 CHED, Face-off Show 6 p.m., game at 8 p.m.).
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