Connor McDavid Is The Difference-Maker For Edmonton Oilers

There were a lot of high hopes for Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers this season. Fans were excited to see just how much McDavid would shine in his first year in the NHL, and they were also excited to see how much of a difference McDavid would make to the annually disappointing Oilers.

McDavid was unfortunately only able to play 13 games before sustaining an injury that has kept him out of the lineup until last night’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets. The rest of Edmonton’s roster hasn’t fared any better with most of the other players missing at least one game to injury. To say that these injuries have impacted Edmonton’s season is an understatement.

While McDavid has been in the lineup he’s been a point-per-game player, and when paired with Taylor Hall the Oilers have a dangerous offensive duo. In McDavid’s first game back from injury, he scored a goal by deking through Columbus’ defense and then putting it past their goalie. He also assisted on Benoit Pouliot and Jordan Eberle‘s goals. McDavid led Edmonton to victory over Columbus in a 5-1 win with a 3-point game and now has 15 points in 14 games.

This type of dominance and ability to be a major difference maker is essential to Edmonton’s future. Every team that goes deep in the playoffs has a player who can singlehandedly win games, and with McDavid on the team it means that Edmonton finally has the piece they’ve been missing for years. If Edmonton can manage to stay healthy next year then they will have a very good chance of making the playoffs with McDavid leading them there.