ANAHEIM — Whether he likes it or not, Tim Washe has become the face of Anaheim’s effort to shut down Connor McDavid.
Washe (pronounced WASH-ee) is a six-foot-three, 212 pound centreman who played five seasons at Western Michigan University, alongside recent Oilers signee Owen Michaels. Both were undrafted and signed as free agents.
Washe ended his college career as the captain at WMU, but has just 41 NHL games under his belt.
Of the 30:17 minutes of ice time he's had this series, almost 18 of Washe’s minutes (17:43) have come head to head with McDavid.
With McDavid going pointless over the first two games, Washe is fast becoming known across the hockey world as “That Guy Out In Anaheim Who Is Shutting Down McDavid.”
Whether he wants the title or not.
“It's a team thing first and foremost. He's on the ice against all of us,” said the humble Detroit native. “It takes everyone on the ice (to) make it as frustrating as possible for him.”
The line is Washe between Rimouski product Jeff Viel and big Ian Moore, formerly a defenceman who has shifted to wing. But you know Washe’s cell phone is buzzing with texts from back home, as this McDavid narrative heats up.
“I’ve got a lot of Canadian buddies, actually, who are cheering for the Oilers, believe it or not,” he smiled. “They like giving me a hard time about it. But it's fun, man, playoff hockey. So many hockey fans out there watching and supporting their teams. It's just a blast being a part of it.”
It’s only the fifth time in McDavid’s career that he has been held pointless in back-to-back playoff games (first time since Games 6-7 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final vs. Panthers), and going back to Game 6 of last year’s Final, McDavid has a three-game pointless skid going.
McDavid has never gone three straight playoff games in the same playoff season without a point.
“It's an awesome assignment,” Washe said. “(He’s) having fun with it, trying to do the best we can, our line. We've done a good job so far, but we just have to keep building, keep finding ways to be effective.”
McDavid looked healthy at the morning skate, flying around at the Honda Center. His folks are in town for the game, which always gives a kid some extra jump.
“He's always flying around — even when he does have something,” head coach Kris Knoblauch said. “So yes, he'll be able to play. He’s good.”
Line Dance
Ducks defenceman Radko Gudas will miss his second game of the series while Oilers centre Jason Dickinson — who was at the rink Friday morning but did not skate — is listed as “questionable” by head coach Kris Knoblauch.
This is how the Oilers set up at the morning skate:
Nugent-Hopkins-McDavid-Hyman
Podkolzin-Draisaitl-Kapanen
Savoie-Samanski-Roslovic
Dach-Lazar-Frederic
Ekholm-Bouchard
Nurse-Murphy
Walman-Emberson
Ingram
Anaheim’s lineup is identical to Game 2:
Kreider-Carlsson-Terry
Killorn-Granlund-Sennecke
McTavish-Poeling-Gauthier
Viel-Washe-Moore
Lacombe-Trouba
Mintyukov-Carlson
Hinds-Helleson
Dostal
All Business
We always get a different vibe from an Oilers team making its way through a playoff series — especially when it shifts to the road as this one has.
They’ve earned a reputation as a team that adjusts well to a series or an opponent, with an ability to enhance what’s working for them and eliminate what’s working for their opponent. You don’t win six series’ in two years if you can’t do that, and on Friday Leon Draisaitl had an all-business air to him as he met the media.
How confident is he that the Oilers can turn the tide on a series in which they are losing the special team battle, and likely giving up too much defensively as well?
“Very confident. We know how to play our game,” began Draisaitl. “(Game 2) wasn’t our best in defending. They’re a good team, and they’re going to make their plays and have their push. But I’ve got lots of confidence in this group.
“Our game has always come from our work ethic, to begin with. Get back to that and we’ll be fine.”
Stats and Numbers
• Edmonton leads the series in shot attempts, slot shots, inner slot shots, chances off the cycle and average O-zone possessions per game (7:05 to 5:05). But the Ducks lead in chances off the rush (8.5 per game to 6) and rebound chances. This is why the Oilers are fixated on slowing Anaheim down through the neutral zone, something opponents are usually concerned with when playing the Oilers.
• Edmonton is 33-25 all-time in Game 3’s … Anaheim has outscored Edmonton 6-2 in the second periods of this series. Goals are 9-8 Anaheim overall … Anaheim lost seven of their final nine home games this season, while the Oilers went 15-8-3 in their final 26 road games.
• The last NHL playoff game in thus building was held on April, 2018, Game 2 of a Round 1 series against the San Jose Sharks. The Ducks would get swept, then GM Bob Murray would hang on for a couple more years before Pat Verbeek replaced him and commenced the rebuild that we’re watching come to fruition today.
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