from Ian Macintyre of the Vancouver Sun,

After 10 years, six general managers, four coaches and zero playoff appearances, the putrification of the Edmonton Oilers appears to be over. Connor McDavid will do that for a team.

Actually, Milan Lucic will do that for you, and Kris Russell and Patrick Maroon and Adam Larsson and Cam Talbot — with McDavid’s help.

McDavid scored the only goal that mattered Friday, breaking a scoreless tie at 11:31 of the second period when he outskated the Vancouver Canucks’ backcheck, split their defence and squeezed the puck under goalie Ryan Miller, who appeared to have it covered until it appeared in the net behind him.

Yeah, Markus Granlund could have been better on the backcheck, defenceman Ben Hutton was caught a tad wide, Erik Gudbranson could have made a better read and Miller could have stopped the breakaway. But McDavid’s goal was one only a few players in the world could have generated. Think of Pavel Bure around 1994....

“He’s the fastest player I’ve ever played against,” Hutton said. “He knows when to fly the zone and once he gets going, he’s got that extra gear no one else has. He’s a remarkable player.”

Is there another National Hockey League player like McDavid?

“No, not even close,” Canuck captain Henrik Sedin said.

more on the game and McDavid...

Game highlights are below...