Rogers Place marked ground zero for the NHL scoring race Friday.
In one lane, Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche, who took to the starting blocks in first place with 83 points (20 goals, 63 assists) in 56 games, following a four-point night Thursday in a 4-2 win over the Calgary Flames.
That saw him retake the lead over Leon Draisaitl of the Edmonton Oilers, who came into Friday’s game second overall with 81 points (38 goals, 43 assists) in 54 games, as the two head down the final-third of the schedule neck and neck.
“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t aware where I’m at,” said Draisaitl, whose 38 goals heading into Friday’s puck drop led the league. “But there are so many great players up there, it’s so tight, this is a one or two-game swing that can go in any direction and I’m aware of that and this is not the time to throw every egg in the basket and try and be the leader.
“Whoever it ends up being is deserving of it and there’s lots of guys in the race.”
Including teammate and Oilers captain Connor McDavid, who woke up Friday morning tied for fourth in scoring with 71 points (22 goals, 49 assists) alongside Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner, whom he will be playing with on Team Canada during the 4 Nations Face-Off from Feb. 12-20.
Rounding out the top five is Nikita Kucherov, of the Tampa Bay Lighting, in third place with 79 points (25 goals, 54 assists).
Of course, for an Oilers team on the heels of a season that ended in a Game 7 loss to the Florida Panthers, you would have to excuse Draisaitl & Co. for focusing further on the horizon than the finish line for the Art Ross trophy.
“We’ve had lots of scoring titles, and MVPs and stuff like that,” said McDavid, who would be first in line to congratulate Draisaitl on what would be the second scoring title of his career. “Obviously, it would be great to see him do that, but I think he would be the first one to tell you it’s not what we’re after. But obviously, it would be great for him.
“He’s been so good and I think it’s his backchecking. I know it’s not his offensive side that you want me to talk about, but he’s tracking back hard, winning battles, keeping pucks alive, making great plays. It’s been good.”
Defence leads to offence
In other words, a good defence is the best offence?
“I think for anybody, the less time you have to spend defending, the more time you have the puck and the more time you spend in the offensive zone, which ultimately gives you more opportunity to score goals,” said Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch, adding it’s not about playing perfect, but focusing on an all-around game that is benefitting Draisaitl this season. “Yeah, Leon makes mistakes once in a while. Every player makes mistakes, but when there is a mistake he’s working extremely hard getting back and breaking up plays.
“I don’t know how many times he has broken up a play on the backcheck, and that’s a great trait to have your superstar working that hard defensively. And then contributing as well as he has this year offensively. So, I think overall this year it’s been pretty steady, his defensive details have been outstanding and definitely that’s part of the reason why his is having the year he has. Biggest reason, he’s an exceptionally skilled player, but his defensive play has been very strong.”
It’s not something that’s happened by accident, rather a continued conscious effort by a player at the top of his game 11 years into his NHL career.
“It’s obviously a cliche to say good defence leads to offence, but that’s certainly the case,” Draisaitl said. “I’ve been valuing that a lot this season and it’s helped me. At the same time, when you’re defending hard and coming back you give up some offence as well and that’s part of it too.
“I think it goes both ways a little ways.”
While only one player gets his name engraved on the Art Ross Trophy, it can be as much a win by the entire dressing room as for the individual.
“The guys are close, they want each other to succeed,’ Knoblauch said. “Leon’s a very popular guy in the dressing room, they obviously want him to succeed and having that goal or that accomplishment at the end of the year to win some hardware, yeah, guys want him to do that.
“And Leon, of course, has got other things on his mind, but every player wants to succeed and accomplish those kinds of things. But I know the players also feel like wanting to help out and have him reach that accomplishment.”
But when it comes to Friday’s head-to-head between the top two scoring leaders, Draisaitl said it’s about meeting fire with fire, from an offensive perspective. Especially when considering MacKinnon has other weapons around him, such as Cale Makar on the blue line.
“You try to keep the puck because if you don’t have it, you’re defending and that’s the hard part,” Draisaitl said. “Playing with the puck is a lot easier playing against them than playing without it.
“But obviously they are two of the best players in the world and they get their looks it’s just about limiting those.”
E-mail: [email protected]
On Twitter: @GerryModdejonge
Bookmark our website and support our journalism:Don’t miss the news you need to know — add EdmontonJournal.com and EdmontonSun.com to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters here.
You can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribers gain unlimited access to The Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, National Post and 13 other Canadian news sites. Support us by subscribing today: The Edmonton Journal | The Edmonton Sun.