TAMPA
Arizona Coyotes Hats Authentic , Fla. — The Tampa Bay Lightning will look to slow down Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers when the two teams meet at Amalie Arena
on Thursday.McDavid continues to put up points on a consistent basis and sits
second in league scoring with 22 points through 14 games. The Oilers’ captain
has registered a point in 13 of 14 games this season with seven multi-point
games to this point. The only team to hold McDavid off the scoresheet this
season is the Nashville Predators, who shutout Edmonton on Oct. 27.But as has
been the case the past couple of seasons in Edmonton, the Oilers supporting cast
ranks far behind when it comes to offensive production. While McDavid has
already hit the double-digit mark in goals and assists, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and
Leon Draisaitl are the only other players on the roster to hit that mark in
points, with 16 and 15 points, respectively. No other player has recorded more
than seven points through the first month of the season.Article continues below
...McDavid had one of the two Edmonton goals on Monday as the Oilers saw a
five-game road winning streak come to an end with a 4-2 loss in Washington.“We
gave it away early and when you’re playing that quality of team you can’t give
up goals like that,” Edmonton head coach Todd McLellan told The Edmonton
Journal. “We didn’t give up much after that but when you’re chasing against the
Stanley Cup champs, you’re going to lose more often than not.”Things won’t get
easier for the Oilers while facing the team Washington beat in the Eastern
Conference finals on the way to that Stanley Cup title as Tampa Bay uses its
depth at forward as a strength.The Lightning have seven different players who
have already reached the 10-point mark and four with at least five goals. And of
the 20 skaters who have dressed so far this season to appear in at least two
games, 12 have scored at least two goals.That includes leading scorer Brayden
Point
Custom Arizona Coyotes Jerseys , who was named the No. 3 star of the week by the league on Monday. Point leads the way with 17 points and eight goals while tied
for the team lead with nine assists.Point does all this while taking on the top
defensive assignments on a regular basis — Point picked up five points last week
while matched up against New Jersey’s top line that includes reigning MVP Taylor
Hall — and he figures to see plenty of McDavid when the two teams get
together.“He’s been doing it for a couple years now, and he’s the guy that has
to face those big lines more often than not and it’s a bonus for us,” Lightning
head coach Jon Cooper said. “It’s somebody who is such a good two-way player to
be able to have that assignment of not only playing a big part in shutting down
a team’s big line but then to get the points he was getting on top of that,
that’s what makes him the player he is today.”Tampa Bay remains without the
services of defenseman Victor Hedman (upper body) and forward Ondrej Palat
(lower body), both of whom have missed five games and remain questionable for a
return this week. Last February, the San Jose Sharks made the biggest splash at
the NHL trading deadline when they acquired Evander Kane to bolster their
offense.And for an encore? They brought aboard arguably the league’s top
defenseman to join one who’s consistently among the NHL’s best.With Erik
Karlsson in the fold, the Sharks open the 2018-19 season Wednesday night against
the Anaheim Ducks at SAP Center.Article continues below ...San Jose acquired the
28-year-old Karlsson — a two-time Norris Trophy winner — from the Ottawa
Senators on Sept. 13 in exchange for defenseman Dylan DeMelo, center Chris
Tierney and a package of draft picks and prospects.“It’s extremely rare that
players of this caliber become available,” general manager Doug Wilson told the
league’s official website on the day of the trade. “The word ‘elite’ is often
thrown around casually but Erik’s skillset and abilities fit that description
like few other players in today’s game.”The addition of Karlsson — who is
eligible for free agency next July — to join fellow Norris winner Brent
Burns
www.officialbruinsproonline.com , 33, gives the Sharks two of the top blueliners in the game and an expected boost
on offense.Since his rookie year in 2009-10, Karlsson leads the league in
scoring by defensemen with 518 points, while Burns is second with 449. Burns has
the most goals at the position in that span with 147. Karlsson tops the list
with 392 assists.With a roster that features Joe Pavelski (34 years old) and Joe
Thornton (39) coming back from a serious knee injury, San Jose has to be hyped
about seeing what the 27-year-old Kane can do over course of a season.Kane,
selected fourth overall in the 2009 NHL Draft, never lived up to lofty
expectations in nine-plus seasons with the Atlanta Thrashers, Winnipeg Jets and
Buffalo Sabres before being dealt to the Sharks for center Danny O’Regan and
draft picks.In 17 games with his new club, Kane collected nine goals — including
a career-high four against the Calgary Flames on March 16. In his first
postseason action
Boston Bruins T-Shirts Authentic , Kane recorded four goals in nine contests, but the Sharks lost in the second round to the expansion Vegas Golden
Knights in six games.Kane signed a seven-year contract extension in May.“We’re
not asking him to, and we never have asked him to, carry the mail here,” coach
Peter DeBoer told the San Jose Mercury News on Sept. 28. “He’s a piece of what
we’re doing, and an important piece, but it’s not a situation where if he
doesn’t produce, we don’t win.”Anaheim finished one point ahead of San Jose in
the regular season, but was outscored 16-4 while being swept by the Sharks in
the opening round of the playoffs.This is also a team looking to get younger.
