Connor McDavid shows speed and skill but held without a point in NHL debut

Right before his NHL debut against the St. Louis Blues Connor McDavid couldn’t escape the television camera.

During the “Star-Spangled Banner” and “O Canada,” the Edmonton Oilers television feed was fixed on the 2015 No. 1 overall pick in the NHL Draft as he stood on the bench.

He tried to stare stoically, but looked like he was full of nervous energy. An NHL debut is a scary time for most prospects. For the 18-year-old McDavid, considered the best NHL prospect in the last 10 years, it was the culmination of almost a lifetime’s worth of hype.

"There was a lot of attention on (the game); glad it's over. As the game went on, I felt better about it. Had a couple of chances," McDavid said via NHL.com

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McDavid played a total of 18:07 and was a minus-1. He won 23 percent of his face-offs and was paired with wingers Taylor Hall and Anton Slepyshev on what seemed to be Edmonton's first line.

St. Louis beat the Oilers 3-1 with Blues rookie Robby Fabri (St. Louis’ first-round pick in the 2014 draft) scoring the game-winner in the third period.

"I did some good stuff, did some bad stuff," McDavid said again via NHL.com. "Whenever (Fabbri) scores late in the game, you never want to see that when you're the opposing team. The Blues are obviously a great team, tough to play against for sure. Kind of move on from here."

He didn’t directly factor into Edmonton’s loan goal. That’s because St. Louis Blues defenseman Alex Pietrangelo fired a clearing attempt in his own zone off Alexander Steen following a St. Louis Blues face off win that ricocheted into his own net.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was the Oiler who lost the face off, which led to the bizarre pinball-like power play goal.

McDavid did influence the score to some degree. His speed enabled the Oilers to break out of their zone on the prior shift and draw the penalty in the Blues’ zone.

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Hall was the player who drew a trip by St. Louis defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk.

Sometimes in hockey you may not end up on the score sheet, but you can still indirectly factor in a goal.

McDavid also blew through St. Louis defense to get a scoring chance. He didn’t convert, but the potential was obvious.

Oilers coach Todd McLellan was blunt in his assessment of McDavid. The jitters were there early, but he got better as the game went on. Still there was room for improvement, which is what you’d expect of an 18-year-old

"If you're going to start in the National Hockey League and go against big, strong (and) heavy, this is the place to do it," McLellan said per NHL.com. "They play that way. At times, I thought (McDavid) was very dangerous and at other times I didn't think that line had a lot going. It's a matter of timing and chemistry and finding the right combinations for him and his linemates."

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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper

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