After 7-0 rout, Oilers need to contain Sharks’ stars while igniting their own
SAN JOSE, Calif. — There’s a hockey adage that to win the Stanley Cup, an NHL team’s best players have to be just that. Unexpected heroes will emerge along the way, but a team’s stars must shine the brightest.
With the sting of a 7-0 loss the previous night still fresh, the Edmonton Oilers headed home Wednesday for Thursday night’s Game 5 in a deadlocked series, needing to figure out a way to cool suddenly hot San Jose stars Joe Pavelski, Brent Burns and Logan Couture while getting more production from their own high-end talent.
“We have to find the net,” Oilers forward Jordan Eberle said at the team hotel just before heading to the airport. “I expect for us to get going, for sure. We’ve had the chances, two-on-ones, things like that.”
Eberle finished the regular season with 51 points, but has only one assist in the four games played against San Jose. More dramatically, teammate Connor McDavid — the NHL’s leading scorer with 100 points in the regular season — has one short-handed goal, one power-play assist and no points at even strength.