EDMONTON, Alberta -- Connor McDavid is the best hockey player in the world. So says Sidney Crosby.
For about a dozen years, Crosby, unequivocally, held that distinction. He has been the face of not only the Penguins, but the entire NHL.
However, age -- Crosby is 31 while McDavid is a decade his junior -- and some pretty compelling evidence supports the Penguins captain's claim he has finally been surpassed by his Edmonton counterpart. To wit: Over the past two seasons, McDavid has won as many scoring titles as Crosby has in his 14-year career.
"He's a great player," Crosby was saying this week in Banff. "He's done an amazing job since he's gotten into the league. He's off to another great start. I think every night there are those matchups that you look at. He's always a challenge to play against. You've got to make sure you're ready to go."
That's not to suggest that Crosby is in rapid decline even though he has now gone six games without a goal, the longest drought to start a season in his career, entering tonight's game against McDavid and the Oilers at Rogers Place.
Not that anyone was too concerned about that in the Penguins' dressing room.
"I don't think anyone's too worried about it here," said linemate Bryan Rust. "He's playing well, getting his chances. It's only a matter of time. It doesn't matter if it's the beginning of the season, end of the season or middle of the season, guys go through a few game span where they don't score goals. If it happens in the first part of a season, so be it."
Besides, as Mike Sullivan was saying, Crosby's game has always been based on more than just points or individual accolades alone. He's the "best 2oo-foot player in the game," according to his coach. "He doesn't concern himself with all of the noise that surrounds these type of situations. He's such an internally-driven player, he's just focusing on his game and trying to be the best player he can be."
On as big of a stage as you can find on a Tuesday in October, Rust expects that Crosby will rise to the occasion as he has done numerous times in his career, most recently his last game five days ago against Auston Matthews and the Maple Leafs.
"It's another challenge," Rust was saying. "Playing against another one of the best players in the league, top 2-3 players in the league, he gets excited for that. Just those head-to-head matchups. He's always a team-first guy, always focused on the team, but he if can he come out on top in this type of matchup, I think he gets fired up about it."
Above all else, Crosby's legacy in the game is winning. He has captained the Penguins to three Stanley Cup championships while McDavid has made the playoffs just once in his previous three seasons when he failed to get the Oilers out of the second round.
McDavid's biggest problem has been, well, the Oilers. Since 2010, the organization has held five draft picks in the top three, four of them No. 1 overall, but have had precious little to show for it. A year ago, Edmonton was a popular preseason pick to win the Cup, instead they went backwards, posting just 78 points to finish 13th in the 16-team Western Conference.
The Oilers enter tonight's showdown against the Penguins with a 3-3 record thanks in large part - perhaps, only -- to McDavid. He has factored in on 11 of the Oilers' 13 goals this season.
Shutdown Edmonton's top line -- as the Predators did Saturday night in a 3-0 win -- and chances are you'll win.
THE ESSENTIALS
• Media notes
• Team statistics
• NHL scoreboard
• NHL standings
THE INJURIES
• Penguins: Justin Schultz, defenseman, (fractured left leg) is out four months.
• Oilers: Forwards Ty Rattie (midsection) and Drake Caggiula (upper body), and defensemen Andrej Sekera (Achilles) and Matt Benning (lower body) are all out.
THE SKATE
• The Penguins and Oilers both had optional skates, though the visitors' session was far more heavily attended. Only Crosby, Phil Kessel, Kris Letang and Riley Sheahan exercised their options. -- Dejan Kovacevic
• Matt Murray was the first goaltender off the ice, and he'll start again. Casey DeSmith actually stayed out an eternity extra with the rest of those unlikely to play: Derek Grant and Chad Ruhwedel. -- DK
• How hungry is Patric Hornqvist for his first goal?
Well, take a look:
That's Hornqvist tormenting Murray with repeated shots from about 3 feet, not to mention relentless laughter. For the record, Murray was crushing him. -- DK
• While the Penguins evidently enjoyed their two free days here in Alberta, especially in the Rocky Mountain resort town of Banff, it was equally evident that they'd have loved to keep that momentum from Toronto.
"Time to play hockey," Jack Johnson said.
"The players are antsy," Sullivan said. "They want to start playing games. Our schedule has been fairly spread out so far. Everyone's looking forward to getting some routine with playing every other night. I think that'll be good for our team." -- DK
• As a result of all their injuries, the Oilers will have a player making his NHL debut, right winger Cooper Marody. He's 21 years old, was a sixth-round pick of the Flyers in 2015, had two goals and four assists in five AHL games this season, and he sounded completely blown away by the chance: "I honestly can't even describe what the feeling is like." He'll be on the third line. -- DK
THE OTHER SIDE
A lot is being made of the Crosby vs. McDavid matchup, and rightfully so. It's a game that’s been circled on both team's calendars.
"It's huge," Kailer Yamamoto, McDavid's new rookie right winger, was saying. "Every game you play in this league is big, but this game in specific."
However, the key to victory tonight could lie in how the second line centers fare. That matchup features Evgeni Malkin vs. Leon Draisaitl.
Like the Penguins, the Oilers love their depth down the middle with Draisaitl, who has scored 70-plus points each of the past two seasons. While Crosby is the unquestioned headliner here in Canada, Malkin has been the Penguins' top producer with 12 points (three goals and nine assists) in just six games.
"He takes over games," Draisaitl was saying Tuesday morning. "As a line we have to make sure we contain him and keep him to the outside. Those guys, they're going to make plays, they're going to get chances. It's about giving them as little as possible."
Draisaitl, who has six points in eight games (two goals, four assists), says he patterns his own game a little bit after Malkin. In comparing the Penguins' top two centers, he said, "I think they're different players. You know Sid's more of a workhorse. He likes to hold onto pucks and is really strong on his skates and likes to protect pucks. He's really good around the net. Malkin is more free-flowing. He likes to look for the 1-on-1 a little more than Sid does."
THE COMBINATIONS
The Penguins didn't show combinations at their skate. Neither did the Oilers. But here are the expected lines/pairings based on availability and both teams' most recent full sessions:
Guentzel-Crosby-Rust
Hagelin-Malkin-Kessel
Simon-Brassard-Hornqvist
Cullen-Sheahan-Sprong
Dumoulin-Letang
Johnson-Riikola
Oleskiak-Maattta
Nugent-Hopkins-McDavid-Yamamoto
Rieder-Draisaitl-Puljujarvi
Lucic-Strome-Marody
Khaira-Brodziak-Kassian
Klefbom-Larsson
Nurse-Russell
Garrison-Gravely
THE SCHEDULE
Faceoff tonight is at 9:08 p.m. The Penguins will practice tomorrow at 3 p.m., at Calgary's Scotiabank Saddledome, home of the Flames, who they will face Thursday at 9:08 p.m.
THE COVERAGE
Visit our Penguins team page for everything.
DK GALLERY
[caption id="attachment_711164" align="aligncenter" width="1000"]
Penguins at Oilers, Edmonton, Alberta, Oct. 23, 2018 - DEJAN KOVACEVIC / DKPS[/caption]
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