Oilers vs. Sharks: The Connor McDavid show invades the playoffs for Game 1

The temptation to believe Connor McDavid can carry the Edmonton Oilers to the Stanley Cup by himself is hard to ignore.

Just ask our robot.

And that temptation stems from a simple place: anticipation. The young man Edmontonians call “McJesus” will make his playoff debut against a San Jose Sharks team full of future Hall of Fame forwards.

This should be fun.

Expect a ton of goals. Edmonton won the series 4-1-1, but the average final score was 4-2. When the Oilers and Sharks met up they averaged a combined six goals per game. Maybe this isn’t surprising, but it hints at a Western Conference series you must stay up late for.

McDavid. He’s the tone-setter. The one with the game-breaking abilities and the kid the Oilers will look to with the game on the line. We think he’ll handle his first playoff game just fine, but it’ll be fascinating to see how Sharks coach Peter DeBoer tries to shut him down with different matchups.

Goaltending. We know the goals will come. At some point, Martin Jones or Cam Talbot will need to make a save or two late in the game to earn a win. The pair are arguably the best netminders in the Pacific, no matter what the Kings’ Twitter account says about Jonathan Quick.

Edmonton. The Oilers closed out the season with a 12-2-0 record and enter this series firing on all cylinders. San Jose lost Joe Thornton and Logan Couture to injuries late in the season, which makes us concerned about their ability to play right now. The Sharks are too talented to get blown out of the water in this series, but it might take them a game or two to really start swimming.

Water.