Connor McDavid Had Zero Points in an Oilers Win and That's Already Driving Him Crazy
The Edmonton Oilers took Game 1 of their Western Conference first round matchup 4-3 over the Anaheim Ducks, but there's one thing eating at their captain. Connor McDavid, the leading scorer in the regular season with 138 points, failed to record a single point in an Oilers win for the first time all season. Yeah, you read that right. He had at least a point in all 41 of Edmonton's regular season wins. Until yesterday.
McDavid's Power Play Zone Entry Problem
Here's what happened: Anaheim's defense got smart about how they defended the Oilers' power play. Edmonton likes to drop the puck back to McDavid in the neutral zone so he can attack with speed. Normally, nobody slows him down. But the Ducks stacked the blue line and closed the gaps he usually exploits. McDavid knows exactly what went wrong.
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👉 Claim Your Free $10 at Kalshi"That was me just not being clean enough doing that," McDavid said after the game. "That's an area we're obviously very good at and I'm not too concerned about it. With that being said, they threw some different things at us and we'll adjust."
Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch isn't sweating it either. "Anytime I see Connor do something that maybe is not at his best, it usually doesn't last for very long; he usually finds a way to correct it," Knoblauch said. The message is clear: expect McDavid to bounce back hard in Game 2.
Anaheim's Young Squad Is Ready to Even Things Up
The Ducks brought 13 playoff rookies to Game 1 and walked away gutted by the loss but not discouraged. They stormed back with three goals in the second period to overcome a two-goal deficit, just couldn't hold it in the third.
"I think the nerves are now a little bit settled," Ducks forward Cutter Gauthier said. "We didn't know what to expect going into it, most of us young guys have never played in a playoff game before. It was nice to get that comfortability going into it."
Troy Terry added that when Anaheim plays their best, they bring four fast lines. The Ducks finished the regular season tied with Montreal for the most comeback wins at 26. Don't sleep on them in Game 2.
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