So much is made of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl of the Edmonton Oilers, and understandably so.
There are few better, more dynamic players in the NHL. But the Carolina Hurricanes’ Sebastian Aho and Jaccob Slavin can match up with them.
Goaltender Frederik Andersen can stop them and did Saturday in a 3-1 road victory at Rogers Place.
Aho scored twice and had an assist, Slavin headed up a tight defensive effort and Andersen had 24 saves for the Canes (19-6-1), who won their 12th road game of the season.
Five takeaways from the Canes’ third straight win on the road trip:
— How do you keep McDavid and Draisaitl off the scoresheet?
Tight gaps, quick sticks, good anticipation, applied toughness. The Canes did that in shutting down the Oilers’ two big guns, who each had three shots.
“Those are the games you dream of as a kid,” Slavin said. “Or at least I do as a defenseman.”
So does Aho, who added, “It’s a big challenge. Everyone knows those two guys are pretty much the best players in the league, so it’s a fun challenge. It’s a big task and you definitely need more than one line to shut them down.”
And a hot goalie. Andersen made some spectacular stops in the third period with the Oilers buzzing and twice on the power play. Said Slavin: “If not for him I don’t know if we win that game. He’s been standing on his head lately.”
— Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour says the mark of a good road team is consistency. And no one has been more consistent for the Canes than Aho, who scored on a first-period power play, assisted on Nino Niederreiter’s goal in the second and then stole the puck from goalie Mikko Koskinen by the net for a third-period goal to seal the win.
Of Aho’s 14 goals this season, 11 have come on the road. The center has five straight multi-point games and five goals in his last three games, beating Calgary in overtime Thursday.
— The Oilers entered the game with the NHL’s top-ranked power play and the Canes checked in No. 2 in penalty killing. This night, the Canes had the edge.
Aho notched the power-play goal of a nice pass from Vincent Trocheck, and the Canes denied the Oilers on both of their power plays — both after Brady Skjei penalties in the third period — while allowing four shots.
“They’re very good and they move the puck super fast,” Aho said. “But you feel more confident when you know there’s a hot goalie in your net. You feel comfortable to pressure.”
—Niederreiter is a good fit on Aho’s line with Teuvo Teravainen, and he’s producing like a top-line guy.
Niederreiter hustled to a puck in the neutral zone, skated down the left wing and beat Koskinen with a toe drag and quick release to push the Canes ahead 2-0 -- the eventual game-winning goal.
Niederreiter has points in seven of the last eight games — three goals, six assists — and gives the Aho line a rugged forechecker who does some of his best work below the goal line.
Aho: “He’s a big boy. Goes to the hoop. He knows it’s his job to go to the net.”
—It was an emotional night for Ethan Bear. Returning to Edmonton, playing against the team that drafted him, gave him his NHL start and then traded him, was a game he had circled.
“A lot of memories. It will be exciting,” he said after Saturday’s morning skate. It wasn’t a happy ending in Edmonton for Bear.
He had a concussion last season. He endured some harsh criticism — with some profane comments made about him — after the Oilers were beaten by Winnipeg in the 2021 playoffs.
Then, the trade. “I really did love playing here,” said Bear, who returned to the lineup after missing Thursday’s game in Calgary with an illness. “When I got traded, with all that happened, I didn’t know if I should be happy or sad. I say everything happens for a reason. It was time to leave and I think I’m in the right place now.”
