Evander Kane had a wide-open web however he handed the puck anyway.
Instead of tapping it in for his first objective of the 12 months, the Oilers’ #91 dropped the puck off so captain Connor McDavid may tie an NHL document for season-opening hat tips.
McDavid, trying considerably stunned to get a pass, shot it in for his third objective of the night time, securing a 5-3 Edmonton Oilers win over the Vancouver Canucks Wednesday.
“I prefer to maintain him on his toes, I assume,” Kane mentioned with fun Thursday.
“I’ve been round a very long time. So you acknowledge the scenario of the sport, who’s on the market, and I figured he is a reasonably good participant so if I put it in his neighborhood he’ll put it in. Nice to see him rating a hat trick.”
McDavid completed the sport with 4 factors. He additionally hit 700 in his profession, changing into the sixth quickest ever to achieve that mark. The present captain did it in 488 video games. Wayne Gretzky holds the document at simply 317.
After scoring three on opening night time in 2017-18, McDavid additionally grew to become simply the third participant in NHL historical past to document a number of hat tips in season-opening video games. He joins Brendan Shanahan and Cam Neely who additionally did it twice.
“That was a pleasant play by Kaner. It’s not enjoyable being at zero (targets). So it was undoubtedly an opportunity to get off zero. Unselfish play for certain, undoubtedly respect it,” McDavid mentioned after the sport.
The Oilers coach did not love the workforce’s begin, the place they fell down 3-0. But Jay Woodcroft was pleased with how his workforce stormed again and how the sport ended, together with Kane’s pass.
“Kaner recognizing that Connor was accessible, and he discovered him, and that is an ideal teammate,” Woodcroft informed reporters.
“I’m glad you guys picked up on that. That’s considered one of issues generally simply coaches decide up on and present in video and stuff like that. But I believed it was optimistic and an unselfish act.”
Edmonton Oilers’ Connor McDavid (97) celebrates his hat trick towards the Vancouver Canucks throughout third interval NHL motion in Edmonton on Wednesday, October 12, 2022 (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson).
After becoming a member of the Oilers mid-season final 12 months, Kane scored 22 targets in 43 video games and added 13 in simply 15 playoff matchups.
McDavid assisted on a lot of these markers, and Kane was requested if he expects his linemate to return the favour with some candy passes this 12 months.
“I dunno, with the kind of participant he’s, most likely not,” Kane mentioned sarcastically with fun, earlier than including a honest, “I’m certain he’ll.”
The Oilers tackle the Calgary Flames subsequent. That sport is Saturday at Rogers Place at 8 p.m. MT.