NHL: Connor McDavid & Drew Doughty – Source: Imagn
Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers are frustrated.
They head back home down 2-0 in their first-round series with the LA Kings, having been outscored 12-7 in the process. A miraculous comeback in Game 1 did not carry over into Game 2, as the Oilers were dismantled in a 6-2 loss.
Game 3 on Friday night becomes almost a must-win for Edmonton as they look to avoid being put on the brink of elimination. Despite the situation appearing dire, Connor McDavid remains confident knowing that they can clean up their mistakes.
He spoke to the media on Friday and took a bit of a dig at the Kings, referring to the Oilers gifting them their opportunities. The Edmonton Oilers shared the clip of his comments on YouTube.
“That’s the game they play. You know, they play a stingy game, wait for you to make a mistake, or you know obviously they’re capitalizing a lot on power play as well. You know, give them that. Should eliminate a lot of things that we’ve given them. A lot of it’s on us, we got to figure out a way to not make a big mistake,” McDavid said (0:47).
Connor McDavid is in the seventh season of the eight-year, $100,000,000 contract extension he signed with the Oilers in 2017. He will become eligible for another extension in Edmonton on July 1, 2025.
Connor McDavid was contained in Game 2
It was a rare sighting to see that Connor McDavid was held off the scoresheet in Game 2 on Wednesday night.
The 28-year-old went pointless and had just two shots on goal in his 20:17 of ice time. This comes after a four-point (one goal, three assists) performance that almost led to a wild third-period comeback in Game 1. For a team so heavily reliant upon their two best players, the Oilers can ill afford many pointless outings from their captain.
Connor McDavid is poised to center a loaded-up top line with Leon Draisaitl and Zach Hyman on his wings in Game 3. It will be an extremely difficult task for LA to keep the world’s best player quiet as the series shifts back to Edmonton.
McDavid and the Oilers will look to cut their series deficit in half at home on Friday night against the LA Kings. The puck drops at 10 p.m. EST at Rogers Place.