EDMONTON — There is a weird fascination in watching Connor McDavid struggle like this.
Like spotting a lynx in the wild, or watching your golf partner bag a hole-in-one, there are some things you only see once in a lifetime. This level of struggle from that level of player — in the playoffs, no less — is as unique as it gets.
Not enjoyable, nor do we expect it to last. But man, for two games of these playoffs, McDavid’s game has abandoned him in shocking fashion.
“I think he’s putting a lot of pressure on himself,” assessed head coach Kris Knoblauch, after a 6-4 loss to the Anaheim Ducks in which McDavid was an abysmal minus-two. “He wants the team to do well. He’s a leader and usually when we have success, he’s a big part of that.
“There’ve been stretches during the season that he hasn’t been the best player, nights where he hasn’t been outstanding. That doesn’t happen very often and I’m certain that he’s going to find his game.”
A 1-1 series heading down to Anaheim for Game 3? We’ve seen a ton of that in Edmonton over the years.
But a series shifting before McDavid notched his first point of the playoffs? That’s like getting a Spanish doubloon mixed in with your change at the car wash.
Is it his game that gets the blame? Or should the Ducks get the credit?
“A little bit of both,” McDavid said. “They’re obviously checking hard and they’ve got good sticks and good players. And we haven’t been as crisp as we’d like, obviously.”
McDavid went pointless in Game 1, and the hockey world agreed that Anaheim had blown a huge opportunity when they lost 4-3. There’s no way Connor McDavid would go pointless in Game 2, right?
Plays dying on his stick. Passes that seldom found their target. Turnover, after turnover, after turnover….
McDavid is the undisputed “Best Player in the World.” Nobody is saying he isn’t.
But struggling through 24 minutes of ice time in Game 2 — including a short trip to the dressing room after getting tangled up with Mattias Ekholm — McDavid went pointless in back-to-back playoff games for just the fifth time in his career.
“Obviously, we’d like a better outcome tonight and a better product tonight, but we’re comfortable going on the road,” said McDavid.
The product through two games is more concerning than the results, to be honest.
“Obviously,” McDavid agreed. “It’s the playoffs and we’ve got to start going.”
When this series opened the Oilers spoke about playing low-event hockey against a young, skilled Ducks team that likes to open games up and play 5-4 hockey. Edmonton has not come close to succeeding at that, but the lack of a playoff-worthy defensive game isn’t even their biggest concern right now.
Special teams is where the real trouble is, with Anaheim crushing that matchup with three power-play goals and a shorthanded marker in this series, compared to a big goose egg from the NHL’s top power play this season.
The Ducks’ power play went two-for-three in Game 2, and an Oilers power play that couldn’t get out of its own way also coughed up a shorty.
“As good as you are five-on-five, it’s pretty tough to overcome three goals there. I believe that was the story of the game tonight,” said Knoblauch. “Five-on-five, we had four goals tonight. You score four even-strength goals, that should be enough to win a hockey game.
“We scored quite a few the other night to win. So five-on-five I think we’re generating enough.”
“Where there are shifts that aren’t going our way, we have to be better at managing that and making it a B shift and not have it turn into a C or D level shift and giving up chances,” said Edmonton defenceman Connor Murphy. “They play free when the scoring is high, and when they get behind. We have to bear down and know that if we make it low scoring our offence will take over from our defensive play.”
Zach Hyman scored a goal, the only marker Edmonton’s top line has produced in this series. That unit saw Matt Savoie get changed out for Ryan Nugent-Hopkins — it’s been a disappointment thus far.
Leon Draisaitl’s line has been by far Edmonton’s best. The fact that a one-line team without a power play is getting out of town tied at a game apiece is likely good luck for Edmonton.
They haven’t kicked into playoff gear yet.
“I think we’re capable of making plays,” Hyman said, when asked about the struggles in execution.
“I think we’re obviously a little bit rusty,” he said. “It’s the first time we’ve been back, all five of us, in a little bit. Sometimes you just need the first one to drop. We’ve had looks, we’ve had chances, but we can be sharper and much cleaner.”
This is why the Oilers are a team that does not live and die on trying to win a division or secure home ice advantage. They never win the first two at home, and traditionally, Edmonton has been a better road team in the playoffs.
“We’ve been in this situation a lot, 1-1 going on the road,” McDavid said. “We’re comfortable on the road, we like playing on the road. Obviously, we’d like a better outcome tonight and a better product tonight.
“But we’re comfortable going on the road.”