After The Whistle: Three Takes From Edmonton’s 5-3 Win Over Vancouver

The Oilers are 1-0 to begin the 2022-23 season after a wild one against Vancouver last night. The Canucks scored two early goals to put the Oilers on their heels early. but the Oilers were able to rally back to take game 1 by a 5-3 margin.

Here are three things that helped tip the scales for the Oilers in last night’s win:

1. Connor McDavid is Connor McDavid

Just another day at the office for the NHL’s best player. McDavid’s four point night (3-1-4) did most of the heavy lifting for the Oilers on the scoresheet. McDavid’s second goal was scored with five minutes remaining in the third, it would be the eventual game winner. He’d score an empty netter late in the third to seal the hat trick. Edmonton takes two points, the Canucks head to Philadelphia empty handed. McDavid’s four point night pushed him past the 700 career point mark. Not too bad for a night’s work.

2. Jack Campbell had a successful Oilers debut. He could have melted like a popsicle in the midday sun after yielding a second goal in less than a minute early on in the first period, but he turned a tough situation into a 33-save evening en route to his first win as a member of the Oilers. Campbell locked it down after yielding a power play goal to Andrei Kuzmenko early in the second period to pick up the win and third star honours.

3. A mostly successful PK - I don’t want to read about Edmonton having eight shorthanded penalty kill situations after another regulation game, but the Oilers survived, yielding just a single goal on eight situations. Credit again to Jack Campbell for a successful debut, but the Oilers can’t get themselves into another situation taking eight penalties a night and expecting good things to come from it - especially with Calgary coming up on Saturday.

The Flames will visit Edmonton on Saturday night. Can the Oilers ride the wave after a comeback victory in game 1?