Since the start of their careers in the National Hockey League (NHL), Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid have been used to success, but Wednesday evening will certainly be part of the short chapter showing their bad games.
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Both men went through hell within their respective training. They also suffered an identical fate at the opening of the season: a 6-0 thaw in front of their supporters. If the loss of Crosby’s Penguins at the hands of the powerful New York Rangers responds a little more to the logic on paper, very few people predicted the humiliation served by the Winnipeg Jets to McDavid’s Oilers.
However, in both cases, the correction was severe and already constitutes a warning. Unsurprisingly, the dismay was clearly perceptible inside the Penguins locker room, jeered by the home crowd. Crosby did not deliver his best performance, finishing with a differential of -2. On the Blueshirts’ third goal, he lost a faceoff which eventually allowed Chris Kreider to make it 3-0 with 12 seconds left in the first period.
Chris Kreider breaks the backs of the Penguins –
This is not the ideal recipe to revive a team that has missed the playoffs in the last two years.
“We found ourselves behind in the score and forced to play catch-up hockey. […] We didn’t advocate our style of play and we tried to do everything at once, lamented Crosby, as reported by the daily Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Rangers are a formidable club. We weren’t strong enough. We were not in the right places. This is a team that will make you pay for it. Whether it’s part 1 or 40, she will benefit if you give her chances. I don’t think we should analyze the match too much.”
If it’s any consolation for the Penguins, they can get back on track on Thursday evening by visiting the Detroit Red Wings.
Disbelief among the Oilers
In Alberta, it is difficult to explain how the losers of the last Stanley Cup final stumbled so hard. Goalkeeper Stuart Skinner struggled, as did his teammates. The members of the main trio (McDavid, Zach Hyman and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins) concluded the clash with a cumulative differential of -6.
The Oilers experienced Groundhog Day, since last year, they began the regular season by suffering an 8-1 beating against the Vancouver Canucks.
“I feel really bad about what happened. It hurts, especially since it’s been two years in a row. You just don’t want to believe it will happen again. However, this is only one match and there will be others where we can change all that. It’s up to us to get the job done,” Skinner told the media.
McDavid and his cohorts will try to get back into winning habits by taking on the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday.
