BOSTON, MA - The Dynamic Duo, meet…
Boston's dynamic duo.
While the Oilers offensive pulse beats by the output of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, Boston's charge is led by David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand. The four skaters rank in the top five of National Hockey League scoring and have combined for a total of 249 points in the 2019-20 season.
So, offence may be served for lunch on Saturday. However, that's not a talking point in the Oilers cafeteria.
"I don't really care, to be honest, about that," forward Zack Kassian said after practice on Friday.
"We're about winning a hockey game. We have some offensive threats, they have some offensive threats. If you look around the League, every team has that. There's so much talent in this League that on any given night if you're not ready to work against talent, they're going to make you pay."
Instead, the Orange & Blue are focused on administering a strong team effort and hope that will push them past the big, bad Bruins.
"We seem to put our best foot forward when we play tough opponents. We've proven that this year," said Kassian.
"I expect nothing less."
ROUNDING OUT THE OFFENCE
While Marchand and Pastrnak assemble for their offence, Edmonton's Dynamic Duo has been divided.
Since the Oilers recalled forward Kailer Yamamoto - who has two points in two NHL games this year and was named an American Hockey League All-Star on Friday - the club has split McDavid and Draisaitl.
The Oilers top line features McDavid in the middle of Kassian and James Neal. Draisaitl, meanwhile, will play middleman with Yamamoto and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.
The balanced assault has been noticeable in the past two outings and a lot of credit goes to the recalled Yamamoto, who's been parachuted in to provide a new complexion.
"That's no secret," said Kassian. "Yammer came up and he's done a great job. If you look at the good teams, they're not one-line teams. They're not two-line teams. They're four-line teams. There's no ifs ands or buts about that.
"You look at those teams that are playing late in April and late in the playoffs, they're deep. They have different guys step up at different times and we're going to need that going forward if we're going to get into the playoffs."