ANAHEIM, Calif. – Connor McDavid was the only National Hockey League player with 100 points this season, but five games into his first playoff experience he’s ranked 21st in league playoff scoring.
He’s got two goals and five points in seven games, and it only gets tougher carrying Ducks checker Ryan Kesler around the rink. It can’t be much fun, but it could be a valuable experience for a 20-year-old with years of this ahead of him.
“We’re not here to win the McDavid-Kesler matchup. We’re here to win the series,” said Oilers head coach Todd McLellan. “I’ll let you know when the series is over if we’re all better for it. Connor will grow from this experience.”
Milan Lucic has seen the blanket thrown over McDavid by San Jose and now Anaheim.
“You knew it would be a part of their game plan. Every team’s game plan is shutting him down, that’s why the rest of us need to pick up our game,” said Lucic, who has just one goal and three points in seven starts. “Other teams key on him so much, maybe a little over the top, but he’s the type of guy who won’t get frustrated, and a good enough player to find a way to break through.”
If Edmonton can thrive with McDavid having this little offensive input, that’s a pretty good sign. Imagine when he matures to the point where he gets more productive in this environment. Then what?
“They’re going to pay that much [more] attention to him. That’s a given,” McLellan said of the Ducks. “Right now he’s [tied for second] on our team in scoring, we’re in the second round, we’re ahead in a series. … It can’t be all that bad.
“He’s getting smarter with it. He knows where to go and how to handle it. Not always to his benefit. Sometimes to others’.”
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“He’s just OK”
What did Randy Carlyle think of goaltender John Gibson’s game in Game 1?
“I once said, ‘He’s just OK,’ and it got me in a lot of crap,” was his response. “I have to temper anything I say.”
Of course, that reference’s Carlyle’s grading of a mediocre James Reimer performance when he coached the Toronto Maple Leafs. The fallout included some tensions between Carlyle and Reimer that never really resolved themselves.
“[Gibson] fit in with the rest of our hockey club,” said Carlyle. “He competed hard, but we have another gear, another level we can get to.”
Carlyle also ruled out Kevin Bieksa for Game 2, stating the defenceman should be available late in the series. Bieksa appeared to injure his left knee when he inadvertently ran into teammate Shea Theodore early in Game 1.
Sami Vatanen (shoulder) is a game time decision, but isn’t expected to play.
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Calling All Hockey Parents
Carlyle said something Friday that every minor hockey coach and parent should have printed on a card in their back pocket when they leave home with their little hockey star in the back seat of the minivan.
“As I’ve always said,” began the Ducks coach, “if we as a hockey club could go out and make as many mistakes as the officials do, we’d have a pretty good game. So let them do their job. Yes, they’re not mistake-free – but neither are we.
“If … the number of mistakes we made equalled the number of mistakes the officials make in a game, we’d be further ahead.”
Big Picture
Jordan Eberle now knows why players have made a cliché of taking the playoffs one game at a time. Do it any other way and it will make you crazy, he’s finding out.
“This is my first time going through it, and I find it hard to look at the big picture,” Eberle said. “Much like a regular season, where you put [games] into segments, if you look at the full picture, it’s very daunting.
“I haven’t thought about if we win who we’re going to play, or any of that. You’re watching hockey sure, but you have to keep your mind on Anaheim. You have to minimize your goals for [attaining] them to be realistic.”
