{"id":281680,"date":"2026-04-23T07:48:23","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T07:48:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/281680\/"},"modified":"2026-04-23T07:48:23","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T07:48:23","slug":"oilers-still-waiting-for-mcdavid-to-put-stamp-on-series-with-ducks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/281680\/","title":{"rendered":"Oilers still waiting for McDavid to put stamp on series with Ducks"},"content":{"rendered":"

EDMONTON \u2014 There is a weird fascination in watching Connor McDavid<\/a> struggle like this.<\/p>\n

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 \u2014 in the playoffs, no less \u2014 is as unique as it gets.<\/p>\n

Not enjoyable, nor do we expect it to last. But man, for two games of these playoffs, McDavid\u2019s game has abandoned him in shocking fashion.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he\u2019s putting a lot of pressure on himself,\u201d assessed head coach Kris Knoblauch, after a 6-4 loss to the Anaheim Ducks in which McDavid was an abysmal minus-two. \u201cHe wants the team to do well. He\u2019s a leader and usually when we have success, he\u2019s a big part of that.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019ve been stretches during the season that he hasn\u2019t been the best player, nights where he hasn\u2019t been outstanding. That doesn\u2019t happen very often and I\u2019m certain that he\u2019s going to find his game.\u201d<\/p>\n

A 1-1 series heading down to Anaheim for Game 3? We\u2019ve seen a ton of that in Edmonton over the years.<\/p>\n

But a series shifting before McDavid notched his first point of the playoffs? That\u2019s like getting a Spanish doubloon mixed in with your change at the car wash.<\/p>\n

Is it his game that gets the blame? Or should the Ducks get the credit?<\/p>\n

\u201cA little bit of both,\u201d McDavid said. \u201cThey\u2019re obviously checking hard and they\u2019ve got good sticks and good players. And we haven\u2019t been as crisp as we\u2019d like, obviously.\u201d<\/p>\n

McDavid went pointless in Game 1, and the hockey world agreed that Anaheim had blown a huge opportunity when they lost 4-3. There\u2019s no way Connor McDavid would go pointless in Game 2, right?<\/p>\n

Plays dying on his stick. Passes that seldom found their target. Turnover, after turnover, after turnover\u2026.<\/p>\n

McDavid is the undisputed \u201cBest Player in the World.\u201d Nobody is saying he isn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

But struggling through 24 minutes of ice time in Game 2 \u2014 including a short trip to the dressing room after getting tangled up with Mattias Ekholm \u2014 McDavid went pointless in back-to-back playoff games for just the fifth time in his career.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, we\u2019d like a better outcome tonight and a better product tonight, but we\u2019re comfortable going on the road,\u201d said McDavid.<\/p>\n

The product through two games is more concerning than the results, to be honest.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously,\u201d McDavid agreed. \u201cIt\u2019s the playoffs and we\u2019ve got to start going.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u2019t even their biggest concern right now.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s top power play this season.<\/p>\n

The Ducks’ power play went two-for-three in Game 2, and an Oilers power play that couldn\u2019t get out of its own way also coughed up a shorty.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs good as you are five-on-five, it\u2019s pretty tough to overcome three goals there. I believe that was the story of the game tonight,\u201d said Knoblauch. \u201cFive-on-five, we had four goals tonight. You score four even-strength goals, that should be enough to win a hockey game.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe scored quite a few the other night to win. So five-on-five I think we\u2019re generating enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere there are shifts that aren\u2019t 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,\u201d said Edmonton defenceman Connor Murphy<\/a>. \u201cThey 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zach Hyman<\/a> scored a goal, the only marker Edmonton\u2019s top line has produced in this series. That unit saw Matt Savoie get changed out for Ryan Nugent-Hopkins \u2014 it\u2019s been a disappointment thus far.<\/p>\n

Leon Draisaitl\u2019s line has been by far Edmonton\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

They haven\u2019t kicked into playoff gear yet.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019re capable of making plays,\u201d Hyman said, when asked about the struggles in execution.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019re obviously a little bit rusty,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s the first time we\u2019ve been back, all five of us, in a little bit. Sometimes you just need the first one to drop. We\u2019ve had looks, we\u2019ve had chances, but we can be sharper and much cleaner.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been in this situation a lot, 1-1 going on the road,\u201d McDavid said. \u201cWe\u2019re comfortable on the road, we like playing on the road. Obviously, we\u2019d like a better outcome tonight and a better product tonight.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we\u2019re comfortable going on the road.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EDMONTON \u2014 There is a weird fascination in watching Connor McDavid struggle like this. Like spotting a lynx…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":281681,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,165,164],"class_list":{"0":"post-281680","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-anaheim","8":"tag-anaheim","9":"tag-anaheim-headlines","10":"tag-anaheim-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=281680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/281681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=281680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=281680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=281680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}