Draisaitl and McDavid have incredible Hockey IQ and read of the Ice, and are great passers AND shooters. You take away their shot they're going to pass it to someone else who has the shot. You take away the pass they'll shoot. If team start to take away McDavids pass he'll have time and space shoot.
Connor is way more valuable passing the ouck because he makes the whole team better and builds confidence in his teammates. Rather than putting the team on his shoulders and carrying the load he delegates the power of success to the players he is lined with... creating a much better club all around. Do you remember a guy named Gretzky? Because of him everyone improved...Kurri became a superstar because of Gretz... McDavid is doing the same for Hyman. Play your game Cap and make everyone better...even Ovechkin, probably the best goal scorer ever realized he couldn't do it himself. Generosity over greed is what makes the world go around successfully... especially in hockey. Go Oil...your Captain will help you get there...in style.
Doughty was ripping into one of their young guys on the bench at the end of the game. They're definitely feeling they pressure. 3 of 4 were fluke goals, the final tally doesn't really tell the whole story. LA wasn't ready. The Oilers, as a rarity, were. To think, this wasn't even half of what Connor is capable of... Crazy.
Yes - Oilers have been saying all year (but really only externally @ beginning of year) that it was 'Cup or bust' and they went out and proved it. It looked to me like they were just waiting for this season to start. I also opined that their PP has more to offer, they were holding back, much like a football team hangs on to certain plays and don't reveal it until playoff time as you don't want to give the opposition a look prior. Yes, their PP is that good that they don't need to 'lead' the league in it in Reg season, they can half a$$ it and still be top 5. Remember, Kings had the #2 PK in the league and Oilers shredded it like nothing. I just hope no King low bridges McDavid, and if they do I hope the Oilers 'low bridge' all the best King players so that they can only field an AHL team for the next round if they get there.
Funny. I watched this game as a neutral fan, and thought the Oilers were handed this game by the refs. 2 goals directly from BS penalties, a third that should've been called back. If the refs keep this up Oilers got this in the bag. No one will be able to beat them if they aren't allowed to breathe on McDavid. If the refs start calling an even game though, this'll be a 6 game victory for the Kings.
You mean one of the best defensive teams in the NHL that had the 3rd best goals against this year? Mcdavid has played almost entirely top overall teams or top defensive teams in his playoff career and is putting up legendary amounts of points
Bouchard's defensive play is brutal ..Edm D is going to bite them in the ass, did last year and will again this year. Tyson Barrie was getting a boatload of points on the PP before he got traded. Nothing has changed, same 6 dmen as last year.
They were actually 9th overall in goals against this season even with that terrible start to the year. While they might not be the best defensive team in the league, the narrative that they are bad defensively hasn't been true for a few seasons now.
McDavid + Drai is just unfair on PP at this Point, McDavid creates so much space himself and Drai always just stands in his Position where it is impossible to guard him in PP where he gets ridiculous angles on Goals or just casually drops an Assist.