When the Edmonton Oilers skated out on home ice, many may have felt uneasy about how the game would turn out. While the Oilers had dominated the Vancouver Canucks last season, they had lost against their rivals on January 19. And to make things worse, star forward Connor McDavid was on the bench serving the second of his three-game suspension.

McDavid’s illegal cross-check at Conor Garland has landed the Oiler in this position. To somehow make things even worse, Edmonton lacked their offensive bite against the Washington Capitals without McDavid on January 22. Yet despite two in a row, the Oilers put everyone’s apprehension to rest with a dominant display, beating the Canucks 6-2. After the match, the other Connor in the Oilers, Connor Brown, discussed how the team rose to the challenge.

No Connor McDavid? No problem

“With Connor out, everybody needed to step up,” said Zach Hyman, and that’s exactly what every member of the team did. Hyman himself played a stellar game, contributing three points to their 6-2 victory. Connor Brown elaborated on the team’s mentality. “I think it just comes down to our team play, and I think that’s what we’ve done a good job of building,” Brown said in a post-match interview.

“Just focusing on how we play as a group and making sure every guy kind of brings their game to the table,” added the right-winger with 13 assists. While Connor McDavid remains the Edmonton Oilers ace, the team showed off their synergy during the Vancouver Canucks game. However, Brown wasn’t the only one who praised the team’s synergy.

Zach Hyman, Leon Draisaitl, and coach Kris Knoblauch all had the same opinion. Since few can match the individual talent of the three-time NHL MVP on the ice, they knew everyone needed to play well for the Oilers to halt their losing streak. “I’m happy with all our players,” said Coach Knoblauch. However, something else also fueled the Edmonton Oilers’ dominant performance against their Pacific Division rivals.

The Edmonton Oilers wanted payback

Besides aiming to stop what might become a string of losses in Connor McDavid’s absence, the Edmonton Oilers were also looking for retribution. The team wanted revenge for January 19’s game and the incident that ultimately escalated to their captain getting a three-game suspension from the NHL Department of Player Safety.

The Oilers didn’t shy away from getting aggressive on the field, even after taking a massive 4-0 lead. Things turned ugly when nearly the entire Oilers squad mobbed Conor Garland after he took a risky swing at a rebound shot that nearly hit goaltender Calvin Pickard. While the incident didn’t lead to anything serious, it showed that the Oilers were not ready to give Vancouver any quarter.

However, besides being aggressive with their offense, his goal-tending improved massively on Thursday. “I thought they played a really good game, and anytime there was a breakdown, Picks came up with some big saves,” Coach Knoblauch commented on Calvin Pickard. The coach made this change after Stuart Skinner’s poor performance against the Capitals cost Connor McDavid’s team a second match in a row.

Corey Perry summed up the performance after the match. Perry said, “We found a way to put the puck in the back of the net tonight and capitalize on our chances.” However, the work is not done, as they must play another match before Connor McDavid makes his return.