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Detroit Red Wings: Neutralizing Connor McDavid a Priority

By Bob Heyrman

EDMONTON, AB - OCTOBER 18: Connor McDavid #97 of the Edmonton Oilers skates during the game against the Boston Bruins on October 18, 2018 at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. (Photo by Andy Devlin/NHLI via Getty Images)
EDMONTON, AB - OCTOBER 18: Connor McDavid #97 of the Edmonton Oilers skates during the game against the Boston Bruins on October 18, 2018 at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. (Photo by Andy Devlin/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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The Detroit Red Wings will look to make it four in a row tonight as the Edmonton Oilers roll into town tonight.  McDavid is a thoroughbred who you just hope has a bad run when your team has to play the Oilers.

The Detroit Red Wings will look to stay hot tonight against Connor McDavid and company tonight.  It has been a pleasant surprise, this little string of winning hockey we have seen of late.  Early on in the season, I wasn’t sure the Wings could win back to back games little own put a small streak together.

The Wings will have to neutralize Connor McDavid if they want to have a chance tonight.  McDavid is a superstar and continues to produce.  He has 9 goals and 19 points on the season already in just 12 games.  It is crazy how good he is, and most of us forget the kid is only 21.  He is just legal to drink and is a perennial all-star and league MVP candidate.

It will be interesting to see which route Jeff Blashill takes tonight to try and slow down McDavid.  I think he could potentially torch the pairing of Mike Green and Dennis Cholowski, but they might be the best option on the back-end to face him.  Green and Cholowski have been excellent, BUT at times they have been getting crossed up in their own end with defensive zone coverage.  If the pair struggles to keep the coverage straight or blink for that matter, McDavid will be in on a break.

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Dennis Cholowski has been fantastic all season especially offensively, but this will be a considerable feat to try and accomplish.  Danny DeKeyser and Cholowski would be a nice option, but DeKeyser has missed quite a bit of time leading up to this game and needs to get into the swing of things at game speed again.

If I am Jeff Blashill, I keep Niklas Kronwall far away from playing against the Oilers top line tonight.  The benefit of matching up at home is having the last change.  Jensen and Kronwall should avoid that Oil top line like the plague.  Blashill will steer away from using Michael Rasmussen‘s line head to head with McDavid.  He or Gustav Nyquist wouldn’t provide much resistance in that situation.

With Frans Nielsen unable to play tonight it looks like it will be best on best tonight.  Dylan Larkin should see a matchup with Connor often. He has often contested the oppositions top center all year long.   Perhaps Luke Glendening could skate against the phenom a few times to allow Larks to play against some lesser talented Oilers to focus on creating a bit more offense.

dark. Next. Roundtable Discussion of Jeff Blashill

I would go with Green and Cholowski along with Larkin’s line against McDavid.  I don’t love the D matchup, but they have enough speed to keep up to the Oilers star.   Whoever Jeff Blashill and the Detroit Red Wings decide to matchup against the top group will have their hands full.  The game within the game tonight will be entertaining to watch.  If you corral McDavid, it will give you an opportunity to win.

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