Boston Bruins: Marchand and Pastrnak vs McDavid and Draisaitl

We’ll see the league’s top dynamic duos when the Boston Bruins play the Edmonton Oilers.

The Boston Bruins seek their first victory of 2020 Saturday afternoon against the Edmonton Oilers. This matchup is a rather rare occurrence as four of the league’s top five scorers meet over halfway into the season.

The Bruins, as we all know, feature Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak. Marchand is currently fourth in scoring, while Pastrnak is right behind him in fifth.

The Oilers counter with a couple studs of their own: Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. McDavid leads all NHL players in points, and Draistaitl is second.

Which dynamic duo will come out on top? Let’s look at the tale of the tape.

Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak are on historic paces with the Bruins

After dominant 2018-2019 seasons, Marchand and Pastrnak came back even better this year. Both are in the midst of career years for the Bruins.

Marchand and Pastrnak flank center Patrice Bergeron to give Boston the best line in hockey. When they play their game, Marchand, Pastrnak, and Bergeron are virtually unstoppable.

Marchand turned into quite the playmaker this year. He currently has 39 assists, which is third in the league. He functions as the primary set-up man for both Bergeron and Pastrnak.

Pastrnak takes advantage of Marchand’s playmaking skills. Last Thursday against Columbus, Pastrnak became the first NHL player with 30 goals.

This was an historic mark for Pastrnak, as he’s the first Bruins player with at least 30 goals in four of his first six NHL seasons.

With two 100-pace forwards on the top line, the Bruins have a chance to win every game. They’ll need the make the most of this chance to defeat Edmonton.

Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl lead the way for the Oilers

The Oilers had a surprisingly fast start to this season, and even after a recent tough stretch of games, they still are within striking distance in the Pacific Division.

McDavid and Draisaitl lead the way for Edmonton this year. Actually, that’s an understatement; they are the way. One has 64 points and the other 63; the next Oiler only has 27 points!

McDavid and Draisaitl center the top two lines, but they often team up on the same line to give the Oilers an edge in any matchup. Not many defenders can handle two elite talents like that on the ice at the same time.

Of the two, McDavid is the more dynamic talent. His skating is out-of-this-world, and when he gets on his horse, nobody can catch him.

Draisaitl is a little bigger than McDavid, and he has a better shot. He also is better at the faceoff dot.

Overall, McDavid and Draistaitl are more talented than Marchand and Pastrnak in a vacuum, but they are both natural centers. As a result, Marchand and Pastrnak balance each other out better on the ice.

With some much talent on the ice, we could see a lot of goals on Saturday afternoon. What are the odds Marchand, Pastrnak, McDavid, and Draisaitl all finish a game scoreless? Probably close to zero.