Connor McDavid and the Oilers: inside Edmonton's new identity

Connor McDavid and the Oilers host the Canucks tonight, with Mike Babcock's team trying to hold first place in the Pacific Division.

Edmonton is 11-3-3, fourth in the NHL, and 6-2-2 over its last 10 games. The mood around this group is different from recent seasons, when the Oilers sat near .500 in early November and needed a late push to get into the playoffs.

The two straight losses on the books, including Thursday's 5-4 defeat to the Ducks, don't change that picture much. The only real blowout this season was the 7-2 loss to the Maple Leafs on Oct. 24, and it looks like an outlier.

The better evidence came on the New York road trip. Trailing the Devils 3-1 on Nov. 3, the Oilers rallied in the third period to force overtime, then lost 4-3 in a shootout. Babcock admitted afterward that New Jersey was the better team that night, and Edmonton still left with a point.

Two nights earlier they had shut out the Islanders 4-0 on Halloween, then beat the Rangers 4-1 on Nov. 1. That is five of a possible six points on the trip.

Edmonton is 7-0-1 on the road, and the goal differential sits at +18. The home record is the odd part. At 4-3-2, it's the one number keeping this from looking like a runaway, and a team with Pacific ambitions can't keep giving points away in its own building.

Why McDavid, Draisaitl and Bouchard are driving Edmonton

The stars are doing the heavy lifting. McDavid leads the NHL with 44 points, and his season-opening assist streak that passed Gretzky now stands at 17 games. The previous record of 12 was shared by Sebastian Aho, Ken Linseman and Wayne Gretzky.

McDavid has 1264 career points in 811 games. Gretzky finished with 2857 in 1487, and Linseman with 807 in 860, so McDavid has already passed one of the names he just overtook in the record book.

Leon Draisaitl is second in the league with 31 points, and Evan Bouchard is third with 30. Bouchard is a +23 as a defenseman, which is the kind of number that tells you the structure behind the stars is holding up.

The depth deserves credit too. Vasily Podkolzin has 9 goals, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has 11 points in 8 games, and Kasperi Kapanen and Colton Dach have chipped in. Tristan Jarry has taken the crease with Devon Levi out, though he is listed as day-to-day with an illness.

That matters, because the injury list is long. Zach Hyman, Matthew Savoie, Frederik Andersen and Devon Levi are all listed on injured reserve, and Babcock said winger Isaac Howard's injury and the couple of weeks he'll miss would keep him out as well. The Oilers have kept winning anyway.

Hyman is listed as out until at least Nov. 7, and Levi until at least Nov. 9. If they come back with this team already rolling, the Pacific race gets interesting.

Quick hits

HURRICANES: The NHL's best team has an odd problem. Carolina hit the ice at Lane Arena this morning ahead of the Blackhawks, and they've been better away from Raleigh than at home.

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MAPLE LEAFS: John Tavares looks set to return tonight against the Canadiens, according to practice lines shared by Mark Masters. Toronto gets a veteran center back at a good time.

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BLUE JACKETS: Kent Johnson tied the game in Buffalo on Friday night, but Columbus still lost 5-2 to the Sabres. A good individual night, a bad team result.

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WILD: Kirill Kaprizov had four points Friday as Minnesota beat the Sharks 4-1 and became the fastest team in NHL history to 1,000 wins, Michael Russo reports.

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DUCKS: Cutter Gauthier scored the go-ahead goal Friday as Anaheim rallied past the Flames 5-3 in Calgary. That's four straight wins for a team that is 7-3-0 on the road.

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