McDavid looked like the best player on earth through that 1st period. What a performance.
Matthews looked very good in the 1st as well, but like McDavid seemed to tail off a bit.
The good:
McDavid
Matthews
Scheifele
RNH
Gaudreau
The "all right":
MacKinnon
Drouin
Saad
Couturier
Miller
The bad:
Eichel
Trochek
It's not often a player scores two goals but seems underwhelming. MacKinnon was bad with the puck tonight. Lots of turnovers and dumb plays, but you can see the potential is there. He is so fast, so strong, and possesses a wicked shot. Not a fan of his game tonight at all.
Eichel looked like he didn't want to be there. Lazy as hell and nothing like I saw from him in the NHL. Hopefully he was shaking off rust and that's it.
Gaudreau has some of the best hands in the league. A few times I was flabbergasted he ended up with the puck after skating into 2-3 guys. I would like to see him play with McDavid and Scheifele to start next game. That could be a very deadly line.
RNH looked like rookie RNH. As Oilers fans know, he had seemingly regressed the past few seasons with injuries and lack of confidence. Tonight he looked incredible by RNH standards. Tough on the puck, very fast, and defensively sound. I hope his tenacity sticks around throughout the season and he gets back to his rookie form.
Trochek made some horrible plays in the first period that stuck with me. I think he'll be sitting next game for Larkin who will bring even more speed to the group. Although, he shoots right and they might opt for him to stay in and instead replace Miller who I think got injured tonight.
If I was deciding forward lines going into Sunday, this is what I would roll.
Gaudreau-McDavid-Scheifele
Matthews-RNH-MacKinnon
Drouin-Saad-Eichel
Larkin-Couturier-Trochek
Saad looked incredibly uncomfortable on the RW and I think putting Eichel there as a right hander could make more sense. Switch them if not.
As for the defence, Ekblad and Jones both looked very solid. I'm so impressed by Seth Jones and hope he keeps it up. Reilly made a couple skillful plays but overall didn't accomplish much offensively. I noticed Murray once all game which is a good thing for the style he plays. Ghost made a few bad turnovers, but he won't be getting scratched at all due to his PP presence. Perhaps he gets reduced minutes 5v5 depending on how he fares next game.
I think Trouba comes out personally.