Oilers at Flames
Edmonton may be playing out the string, but captain Connor McDavid is making a late push to win the Hart Trophy as league MVP for the second straight season despite his team's poor standing as the Oilers visit the Calgary Flames on Saturday. McDavid has seven goals and six assists in his last five games, and with an NHL-most 103 points is steamrolling toward at least collecting his second straight Art Ross Trophy as the league's top point-getter.
McDavid, who recorded 100 points last season, will have none of the Hart talk, telling reporters: “To be honest, I don’t really know what the debate is. There are a lot of different players in the question. They’re all in it for different reasons, and they’re in different situations. It’s not for me to decide.” Calgary stayed in the playoff hunt far longer than Edmonton - eliminated with Monday's 3-0 loss at Los Angeles - but has been outscored 33-8 during a seven-game losing streak after Thursday's 5-1 setback to Columbus. "We're feeling sorry for ourselves a little bit too much," the Flames' Matt Stajan, who played his 1,000th career game March 21, told reporters. "These games are hard to play, but we're in the NHL, we have to go after it a little bit better. ..." The Oilers won seven straight installments of the Battle of Alberta before Calgary scored a 1-0 victory March 13 behind 28 saves from Mike Smith and a goal by Johnny Gaudreau.
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ABOUT THE OILERS (34-38-6): McDavid is a plus-23 - the highest rating among the top 11 point-getters in the league - and is the only player among that group to record a short-handed goal. Rookie defenseman Ethan Bear (one goal, three assists, minus-8 rating), who was a healthy scratch Thursday after playing in all 14 games since making his NHL debut March 1, has averaged 18 minutes, 25 seconds of ice time and is expected to be back in the lineup Saturday. Milan Lucic (34 points) hasn't scored in 12 games and is a career-high minus-12 this season while his 10 goals are his fewest in a full campaign since 2009-10.
ABOUT THE FLAMES (35-33-10): Gaudreau (team highs of 82 points and 59 assists) is expected to return to the lineup after missing the last two games while attending to a family matter. Defenseman Travis Hamonic (20:42 ice time) left Thursday's game with an upper-body injury and will be "out for a bit,'' according to coach Glen Gulutzan. Edmonton native Spencer Foo, who recorded 20 goals and 37 points in 59 games with Stockton of the American Hockey League this season, will make his NHL debut Saturday.
OVERTIME
1. McDavid is the seventh player in NHL history to record multiple 100-point seasons before his 22nd birthday, joining Wayne Gretzky (four); Dale Hawerchuk, Mario Lemieux and Sidney Crosby (three apiece); and Joe Sakic and Jimmy Carson (two apiece).
2. McDavid has scored 36 of his 41 goals and recorded 85 of his points at even strength or short-handed with both totals leading the league.
3. McDavid is bidding to become the first player to win back-to-back Art Ross trophies since Pittsburgh's Jaromir Jagr won four straight from 1997-2001.