April 21, 2023 by Raghu Sharma

Coming off the high of their first 50-win campaign since 1986-87 and matching a club record nine-game winning streak to end the season, the Edmonton Oilers 2023 playoff campaign could not have started any better. And even more impressively, the Oilers have controlled the play without Connor McDavid filling the net.

Scoring two goals off the backs of Leon Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard in the first period and completely dominating the Los Angeles Kings with their physicality, it felt like this was the team of destiny many of us have dreamed about for years coming into full form. The Oilers took advantage of a 5-on-3 in the first period, but after that things started to turn. The King got the next four power-play chances, leading to a swing in momentum in the second period.

While the score remained the same after 40 minutes, you could see the momentum shift of careless penalties by an Oilers group that was playing with fire. The third period led to a goal by Adrian Kempe off a broken play 4-on-4, cutting the lead to 2-1.

Draisaitl’s second goal of the night restored the two-goal, but then with eight minutes left in the third period, the Oilers wheels started to come apart and they found a way to squander a win in regulation with less than 16 seconds to go in third period, sending the game to overtime. The game was eventually ended in overtime off of a questionable Vinny Desharnais tripping penalty with a goal by Alex Iafallo.

McDavid had a minus-two rating with no points and on for the ice for three of four goals against in Game 1. While McDavid showed some of his immense skill in the first period, almost breaking through the defense to score a highlight-reel goal and drawing the call that led to the 5-on-3, he was mostly quite after the first frame.

The Oilers captain is a generational talent posting a 153-point season, which I know many thought we would never see again in the NHL. That said, this was one of the rare off nights by the greatest player in the game today.

Moving on to Game 2, the story was quite similar. The Oilers once again got off to a 2-0 lead and somehow had a better first period than Game 1, limiting the Kings to their first shot of the game with two minutes remaining in the period. Jonas Korpisalo was once again the best player for the Kings saving high danger chance after high danger chance.

The Kings came back to tie the game up with two goals in the middle frame after once again creating momentum off some undisciplined penalties by the Oilers. However, the players didn’t relent as they have been known to do so in the past. In fact, it was a goal by bottom-six forward Klim Kostin (an amazing story and trade by General Manager Ken Holland), who scored his first career NHL playoff goal and game-winner that was the difference, evening up the series at 1-1.

Oilers fans are used to seeing McDavid tally up the points night after night. So far though, he has just one power-play assist on a wicked pass to Draisaitl in Game 2. Right now, Draisaitl has been playing like the MVP that Connor McDavid was in the regular season. This two-game stretch has led many to believe that something is wrong with Connor because we are used to seeing superhuman and not just a great player.

Related: Connor McDavid due for a big Game 3

So what is happening? Well, McDavid seems to be getting matched up against Philip Danault, who is one of the best two-way centers in the league, and due to youth, is a much tougher matchup than Anze Koptiar. The Kings to their credit have played the 1-3-1 system well, are a very disciplined team (powerplays are 10 to four in favour of the Kings) and, above all, are one of the strongest faceoff teams in the league.

Head Coach Jay Woodcroft took some key lessons from Game 1, and coupled with a Matthias Janmark injury, was able to implement the 11 and seven structure that has been one of the Oilers strong suits all season. In Game 2, this allowed McDavid to avoid taking faceoffs and to get out on the ice with fourth pairing of wingers to control the matchups.

While this didn’t lead to more points McDavid on Wednesday, he did look more dangerous than in Game 1. The Oilers have been one of the best road teams this year and a change in scenery might be exactly what McDavid may need to unlock his full offensive potential.

The Oilers are no longer a team that needs McDavid to get three points a night to win. And outside of a few lapses, they could easily gave found themselves up 2-0 in the series. If the Oilers can avoid unnecessary penalties, remaining patient at even-strength and trusting their physicality to drive play and create pressure, the time for Connor McDavid is coming.