BLOG: Barrie finding his rhythm with NHL's best

EDMONTON, AB - Sharing the ice with arguably the two best hockey players on the planet will take some getting used to for Tyson Barrie, but he's definitely not complaining.
The offensive defenceman who signed a one-year contract with Edmonton on Oct. 10 now has two games under his belt as part of an Oilers lineup that features the NHL's top two point producers from last season, Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid.
The 29-year-old recorded his first point with his new team last night during the 5-2 win over Vancouver, but the early goal-of-the-year candidate by McDavid almost didn't come to fruition after a brief miscalculation by Barrie on the power-play breakout.
"I gave it up to Leo and saw Connor was on the left side I think, so I thought he was going to drop it to me and I'd zip it over to Davo, but clearly they had other plans," Barrie laughed. "I didn't even know Connor was behind me, he just came flying. I'm glad I missed it, I tried to knock it down. I was heading back for a breakout when Connor put it in the net. I'm still getting used to playing with these guys."

The nearly-disrupted play turned out so perfectly that Barrie joked they may have to include the diversion in their power-play breakout options going forward.
"I think we might have to put that in the notebook," he laughed. "I'll just peel back for a breakout and Connor will come flying in. There could be something to it."
With their respective four-point performances on Thursday, Draisaitl and McDavid once again sit one-two in league scoring. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored twice and added an assist in the win as the team's terrific PP trio has impressed Barrie through two games.

"There's a lot of chemistry there between the three of them," he said. "You've got three incredibly talented, intelligent people. They had a lot of success last year and I feel pretty fortunate to be able to step in and be a part of that."
The Oilers will look to make it back-to-back wins when they start a two-game series at home against the Montreal Canadiens tomorrow at 5pm MT (Sportsnet, 630 CHED).