Former Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith gets a free assist

The Chicago Blackhawks were off on Thursday night. After winning four in a row, they have a couple of days to rest before their trip through Western Canada begins. It is going to be a hard couple of days north of the border so we can only hope that they get the proper rest before they begin. Their first opponent on the trip, the Edmonton Oilers, did have a game to play on Thursday night.

It happened to be that it was one of the most exciting games that you will watch this season. The Winnipeg Jets were in Edmonton to have a battle between two of the best teams in the Western Conference and it did not disappoint.

The game was scoreless until late in the third period. Nikolaj Ehlers scored a goal on a sweet play made by Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor to give the Jets a 1-0 lead. However, under a minute later, Connor McDavid scored one of the most sensational goals that you will ever see.

He accepted a pass from Cody Ceci in the defensive zone so he can drive it through the neutral zone and split three defenders in the offensive zone. Then, he made another move to beat one of the best goalies that the league has in Connor Hellebuyck to tie the game. Now, McDavid has two or three “goal of the year” candidates and there are about five more months to go.

Former Blackhawks’ defenseman Duncan Keith is having fun in Edmonton.

The funny thing about this is that former Chicago Blackhawks superstar Duncan Keith collected the easiest assist of his NHL career on that goal. All he did was pass the puck to Ceci who passed it to McDavid before he went on his merry way. It was Keith’s fourth assist and fifth point on the season.

When Connor McDavid is playing, it is appointment television. He helps everyone around him be the best version of themselves and it is truly a pleasure to watch. However, when he plays against your team, he is a nightmare to contain. In fact, it is borderline impossible to stop him. You just have to hope to outscore him on most nights.

He is probably very excited to play against this Hawks team. Even though they have been better under Derek King, they still show signs of weakness in their own zone a lot. If McDavid was on the Seattle Kraken, he might have scored three goals in the second and third periods on Wednesday. The Hawks have a very tough task ahead of him on Saturday night and need to be better than that.

On the other hand with Keith, it is good to see him having success on a very good team. The Oilers are legit threats to win the Stanley Cup and Keith is just going with the motions. There are superstars all around and it has to be a lot of fun to play there. You see it on this McDavid goal where Keith collected an assist on it.