Staal, Wild look to continue mastery in Edmonton (Mar 10, 2018)
Since the start of the calendar year, Eric Staal of the Minnesota Wild and Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers are the Western Conference's top two scorers.
Sadly, only one is headed to the playoffs, and it's not the reigning MVP.
Staal will try to power the Wild to their ninth straight win in Edmonton over the McDavid-led Oilers on Saturday night.
As of Jan. 1, Staal has 35 points -- including nine multipoint efforts -- in 29 games with Minnesota posting a 19-6-4 record. Staal scored his 22nd goal in that stretch and team-high 37th of the season in a 5-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Friday.
"I've had some big (goals) over my career, and I've been fortunate to be able to do that. But you just want to put yourself in the best position," Staal recently told the Star-Tribune.
Staal's surge has helped push Minnesota (39-22-7) into third place in the Central Division, six points behind the Winnipeg Jets. The Wild are also three points in front of the Dallas Stars.
As good as Staal has been, McDavid has been slightly better with 36 points (17 goals, 19 assists) in 28 games. However, the Oilers are 12-15-1 since Jan. 1 and 13th in the West.
Edmonton (29-34-4) looks to close a five-game homestand on a winning note after a 2-1 shootout win over the New York Islanders on Thursday behind -- who else -- McDavid. He knotted the score with 1:50 play in regulation, but missed on a penalty shot in overtime before ending it in the tiebreaker.
"He just takes over the game when he wants to," Edmonton goaltender Cam Talbot said. "He has that ability on any given night. In one-goal games, that's who you want on the ice. ... He never ceases to amaze."
With 15 games to play in his third season, McDavid already has a career-best 31 goals and needs 20 points to eclipse the 100 points he amassed last season.
"Every time a teammate is in the race to win anything you want him to win it and you want to help him out," linemate Leon Draisaitl told the Edmonton Journal. "We're still a team and trying to play a team game, but everyone wants him to win, for sure."
The Oilers have been outscored nearly 3-to-1 while losing eight straight (0-7-1) to their former division rival. Over the last 14 matchups in Northern Alberta, Edmonton is 1-10-3 versus the Wild.
McDavid has been held without a goal in four straight games against Minnesota, and his four points (two goals, two assists) are the fewest against any conference foe.
With the Oilers, Talbot's home numbers against the Wild are miserable: 0-2-0 with a 5.33 goals-against average and .822 save percentage. He surrendered four goals on 19 shots in less than 33 minutes in a 5-2 loss on Jan. 31, 2017.
Al Montoya has yet to face Minnesota at Rogers Place, but is 5-0-0 with a 1.18 GAA against the Wild. He's stopped 137 of 143 shots.
Devan Dubnyk, who made 30 saves on Friday, may get the start and another chance to haunt the team that selected him 14th overall in the 2004 NHL Draft and dealt him in 2015 for a third-round pick.
Dubynk is 5-0-0 with a 0.79 GAA, .969 save percentage and one shutout in Edmonton since the deal. Two of the wins came with Arizona, and his next victory will be the 200th of his career.
In the back end of games on consecutive nights, Minnesota is 4-6-1.
