TAIT'S EIGHT: McDavid chasing 1,000 points & more from last week

Long-time sports journalist Cam Tait joins EdmontonOilers.com to deliver a weekly column discussing his eight talking points from the week that was for the Blue & Orange. Living with Cerebral Palsy his entire life, Cam hasn't let his condition prevent him from having a successful 45-year career as a sports writer, with bylines seen in the Edmonton Journal and Edmonton Sun.

8. Eyeing up the Isles

To suggest I am not a sentimentalist who doesn’t relish learning from the past is like saying Connor McDavid doesn’t love scoring goals.

With that premise, shall we continue?

It’s serendipity at its sweetest that the Edmonton Oilers are playing the New York Islanders this week. Sure, no current Oilers were born when Edmonton lost to the Islanders a year before they won their first Stanley Cup in 1984, but the stories told by members of the 1983-84 team about learning what it took to be champions, seeing ice bags on every Islander amidst their celebration, are part of Oilers history.

And, given the way the season has been going for the Oilers, which made a significant positive turn Saturday with a 7-3 win over the Canucks in Vancouver, who knows? A few up-and-close rubs with an Islander jersey might go a long way.

The last time the Oilers and Isles met was Dec. 19 of last year, when Edmonton lost 3-1 on the island.

7. Good for you, Mr. Brown

It’s great to see everyone throughout the lineup contributing to Edmonton's scoring production.

Connor Brown: remember how he went without a goal last year until March 14, when he buried one in the Oilers 7-2 win over the Washington Capitals?

Oilers fans – and the great fans, every last one of you – leapt to your feet to give Brown a standing ovation. And good things … boy, are they worth waiting for, and they can certainly evolve into bigger and better things.

Brown had four goals and eight assists last season, and in the Stanley Cup Finals, the Toronto native had three points and a plus-2 rating in seven games against the Florida Panthers.

That McDavid chap, he does everything – including scouting, recruiting and signing new talent – and Brown joined the Oilers after they went for Italian food in Toronto during the offseason of 2023.

6. If it’s Thursday, it must be… Nashville.

And it is. Again.

For the third time, the Oilers and the Predators are facing each other on – not everyone at once, please — a Thursday.

The Oilers improved to 2-0 against the Preds this season back on Halloween, when Edmonton won 6-1.

Two weeks before that, on Oct. 17 back in Nashville, the Oilers claimed the 4-2 victory, where McDavid scored his first goal of the season to maintain the Predator's winless record at the time. Nashville has won since then, but things haven't improved greatly as they currently sit last in the NHL with 11 points (5-9-1).

5. High five for Captain Connor

You can feel it, can’t you?

Connor McDavid is poised to join the very exclusive club — the 1,000th point club.

Nine hundred and ninety-five points is what the Oilers captain currently has (see, he does like scoring goals).

Five more, and he will be the fourth fastest player to say hello to 1,000 points, joining Oilers Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, and Jari Kurri while beating out Peter Stastny.

4. Flirting with .500

With the win on Saturday this past weekend, the Oilers reached the .500 mark, and with American Thanksgiving being the gate post for NHL teams in the playoff picture, the ham and turkey are there for the taking.

The Oilers have a favorable schedule in the next few weeks, including — get this – a bit of a break after their coming road trip out East to face Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa. They host the New York Rangers on Nov. 23, a Saturday, and then play in Utah the following Friday.

Reset, anyone?

3. Keeping it Kulak

There's something different about the Parkland County Kid this season.

Stony Plain's Brett Kulak notched his fourth goal of the campaign during the third period of Saturday's 7-3 win over the Canucks, which matched his entire total from last season in only 15 games after he played in all 82 for the Blue & Orange in 2023-24 – along with last season.

Kulak has been nothing but reliable in both man games and performance, never missing a game for the Oilers and taking it upon himself this season to play both the left and right side on Edmonton's blueline.

2. Powering up special teams

There was a sense of relief in the Oilers when McDavid netted Edmonton's fifth on Saturday with the man advantage, ending their night 1-for-3 by getting an important PPG to win the special teams' battle ultimately. But still, there's work to be done on both the power play and penalty kill – especially the latter, with the Oilers also allowing a PPG against the Canucks to make it six consecutive games while allowing one, and 12 total this season.

The Oilers are 23-for-39 (59 percent) on the penalty kill this season, which is the second worst all-time in the NHL through 15 games that's only better than the 2020-21 Devils, who were at 58.3 percent at this stage of the season.

1. You be my editor, please.

I really – I mean, really – want to hear from you: what would you like to read in this space?

Who would you like a feature written on among the Oilers management, coaches, players, employees, and volunteers? What question would you ask coach Kris Knoblauch?

Please email me at [email protected].

I can’t promise to get every one it — but I’ll sure try.