Break up the Edmonton Oilers.
Seriously.
The have won five straight games and are reminding NHL fans of the good old days.
Their games are must-see TV because Connor McDavid has captured the hearts and minds of hockey fans ranging from ages 4 to 97 in North America.
How is it that Gary Bettman is allowing McDavid and the Oilers to have so much fun?
Connor McDavid is out of control. Poor Ryan Miller must have seen his life flash before his very eyes as McDavid attacked him with the type of speed and skill that the NHL hasn't seen since Russian Rockets Pavel Bure and Alexander Mogilny in the late '90s.
Miller did all he could to contain McDavid who has Usain Bolt-level straight line speed.
Two strides and McDavid is around you and gone at top end speed.
The horror for opposing defenders and goalies is that McDavid makes all-world plays at top speed.
In other words, unlike other NHL stars, McDavid doesn't have to decelerate and slow himself down in order to deke you and drop your jock strap.
In fact, he does the exact opposite, McDavid deliberately mashes the button on his nitrous oxide fuel boosters when opponents don't expect it in order to achieve maximum velocity.
He sets guys up, creates the false feeling of security in their minds, then embarrasses them by tying them in mental and physical knots with his copyrighted brand of sorcery.
It's really quite remarkable to watch McDavid toy with NHL denders, goalies and back checking forwards.
Case in point, watch McDavid travel 180 feet with his head up the entire slalom run down the ice. He picks up the loose puck at the faceoff dot, quickly chucks a dart to Lucic, climbs to top end speed, receives the give-and-go-pass, then he's off to the races. Eyes up, legs churning, hands attached to the puck.
Watch as he exploits the seam in the D to gain free access on a mortified Miller.
On twenty different occassions, I watched McDavid perform the same witch craft when he played junior hockey for the Erie Otters. I was always amazed and stupified at the pace and veocity of his game. As I watched #97 similarly asault opposing teams during his junior career, I wondered countless times to myself if his other wordly speed and gratuitous skills would translate to the NHL or if it was just a by product of playing with younger, less talented kids in the OHL. I wasn't doubdting Connor. I was was simply curious to know if crusty, conservative NHL coaches and their wiley veteran players would find a way to put McDavid in chains to dumb down and render useless his magical hockey skills like had been done to so many other promising superstars before him. Would McDavid be tough enough to overcome being hacked, slashed and interfered all game long? Would he be able to skate through teh incessant hooking a holding that is the norm in today's NHL?
After watching McDavid play off the charts hockey for Team North America at the World Cup and through eight games this season, I have my answer. His opponents cannot catch nor can they skate with McDavid. Therefore, he doesn't fall prey to the shenanigans and dirty deeds done dirt cheap to decelerate him. McDavid's speed and skill sets him apart from the rest and makes him damn near impossible to contain. I think he gets off on posterizing and clowning opponents.l
The NHL cannot stop Connor McDavid. Opponents can only hope to contain him.
McDavid is a freak of nature who cannot be stopped.
In 8 games played this season, McDavid has scored 5 goals and 7 assists. His linemates Milan Lucic and Jordan Eberle have combined for anotehr 13 points.
McDavid and his teammates need to be tied up, taken away and help for ransom.
While 29 other NHL are efforting to find their individual identities, the Oilers already know who they are. They are a gratuitously offensive, fast, brash, confident, and supremely skilled group of kids who represent a bygone NHL era,
The Oilers moved their current winning streak to five games with a 2-0 shut out win over the Vancouver Canucks on Friday night. The Oilers (7-1) have won seven of their first eight games for the first time since since 1985-86, when they began the season with an 8-1 record.
Cam Talbot stopped all 26 shots he faced. The last Oiler goalie to with two shutouts in a three game span was Dwayne Roloson in December 2006.
Break up the Oilers before it's too late.
Or, force McDavid to tie one arm behind his back during games to make things fair for the opposition.
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The Buffalo Sabres host the Florida Panthers for a 1:00 p.m. matinee today.
Sabres season ticket holders are patient people, however, their patience is being tested like never before. The Sabres have an alarming 43-82 record in their last 125 home games. Enough is enough already. A win this afternoon will be a real treat for Sabres fans.
Robin Lehner will sit out his third straight game. Andres Nilsson will start his thrid straight game. Lehner practiced in full on Friday and afterwards proclaimed himself ready to return to action. Look for the salty Swede to get the net when the Sabres travel to Winnipeg for a 3pm game on Sunday.
The Sabres enter today 0-3-1 in their last four games and are looking to avoid their first five-game winless streak since they lost six straight from December 28, 2015 to January 8, 2016.
The Sabres are 1-3-2 overall and are winless on home ice this season where they have scored only 1 goal in six periods of hockey against Montreal and Minnesota.
The Minnesota Wild slapped the Sabres 4-0 on Thursday night. All four of their points have come from their work on the road.
The Sabres enter Saturday's game with a -6 goal differential. They have scored just 14 goals while allowing 20 goals against.
The Buffalo power play is 6 for 27. Matt Moulson has scored 4 of their 6 PPGs.
Buffalo's penalty kill is 16 for 20.
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Sabres real-time statistical leaders:
Goals: Moulson (4)
PPG: Moulson (4)
Assists: Ristolainen (6)
Hits: Deslauriers (15), Foligno (15), Ristolainen (13)
Blocked Shots: Gorges (12), Bogosian (12), Larsson/Ristolainen (9)
Shots: Ennis (21), Moulson (19), O’Reilly (17)
Ryan O’Reilly has 13 points (5G, 8A) in his last 10 games against the Panthers, including points in nine of those contests and four two-point games.
Sam Reinhart has three goals in his last three games against Florida.
Rasmus Ristolainen had four assists in four games against the Panthers last season.
Tyler Ennis had a point in each of his two games against the Panthers last season.
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Mark Pysyk was selected by the Sabres in the first round (23rd overall) in the 2010 NHL Draft. In 125 games during four seasons with the Sabres, Pysyk recorded 26 points (5G,21A).
Dmitry Kulikov played seven seasons in Florida before being acquired by the Sabres on June 25, 2016. Kulikov was the second-ranked defenseman in goals (28), assists (110) and points (138) in 460 games for the Panthers from 2009-2016
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