{"id":25065,"date":"2026-04-29T20:04:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T20:04:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/25065\/"},"modified":"2026-04-29T20:04:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T20:04:09","slug":"mcdavid-was-never-going-to-sit-out-of-an-elimination-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/25065\/","title":{"rendered":"McDavid was never going to sit out of an elimination game"},"content":{"rendered":"

Win or lose, the Edmonton Oilers<\/a> will have their best player on the ice when they face elimination in Game 6 of the Western Conference First Round against the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, their best player is not at his best, as Connor McDavid<\/a> suffered an ankle injury while colliding with teammate Mattias Ekholm in Game 2, and was even listed as a game-time decision ahead of Game 5 Tuesday (8 p.m., Sportsnet, CBC).<\/p>\n

He ended up playing and earning a pair of assists to help the Oilers to a 4-1 win, and head coach Kris Knoblauch confirmed McDavid will be in the lineup again in Anaheim.<\/p>\n

But it turns out the Oilers captain was never in any real danger of sitting out a game with the injury, especially one where his team was facing elimination.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think with the game-time decision, I was asked the other day about (Jason) Dickinson and Connor at the same time, \u2018Are they game-time decisions?\u2019 They\u2019re both banged up,\u201d Knoblauch said.<\/p>\n

This time, the coach provided separate answers for McDavid and Dickinson, who missed Games 2, 3 and 5 with a lower-body injury that also kept him out of the final three games of the regular season.<\/p>\n

\u201cConnor will be playing next game, Dickinson will be a game-time (decision),\u201d Knoblauch said.<\/p>\n

While the rest of the Oilers roster has to step up in order to account for McDavid not being able to play to his full potential, Knoblauch said there is also things he can do as a coach to help lighten his load.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, that included pairing him up on the top line with fellow Oilers superstar Leon Draisaitl, who normally centers Edmonton\u2019s second line.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbsolutely, it would take a little bit of pressure off him having Leon have the puck a little bit more rather than Connor always having to generate by himself with the pucks. Obviously, he\u2019s got some pretty good support there with Leon being able to make plays, but also (Kasperi) Kapanen.<\/p>\n

\u201cKapanen\u2019s been playing well too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Having both the Oilers\u2019 top superstars on a line together is referred to as the nuclear option around Edmonton, with McDavid leading both the team and the League overall with 138 points (48 goals, 90 assists) in the regular season and Draisaitl sitting second on team scoring with 97 points (35 goals, 62 assists).<\/p>\n

\u201cMcDavid and Draisaitl have always been good (together),\u201d Knoblauch said. \u201cThis year, they have not been outscoring (the opposition) like they usually have. Just a lot of it maybe luck, or things just not going their way, whatever it is they just haven\u2019t been able to outscore.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut there is definitely some chemistry, and going into an elimination game where we need to change our fate, we ultimately felt we were going to put the game in our two best players\u2019 hands and let them dictate where this game is going to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

It went their way, right away, with Edmonton taking a 3-0 lead in the first 10:13, and they never looked back, which will likely provide the blueprint for their plan of attack in Game 6, as well.<\/p>\n

But even within the top line, Knoblauch said there is strategy that can be employed to help take some of the load off McDavid\u2019s shoulders and not require him to drive the line himself quite as often and try and move him over to the wing.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously with Leon, Leon takes a lot of face-offs. Connor and him talk before going into face-offs who wants it,\u201d Knoblauch said. \u201cObviously if someone feels good about a draw, they\u2019ve got success against somebody, they want to do something whether it\u2019s on their forehand, backhand side, so that takes a little bit of pressure off Connor.\u201d<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not just on offence where McDavid\u2019s efforts are needed. The load can be lifted somewhat within the Oilers\u2019 own blue line as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlso with our systems on, especially, defensive-zone coverage, when you come into the zone, typically the centerman takes those responsibilities,\u201d Knoblauch said. \u201cBut depending on the timing and who\u2019s coming into the zone, the wingers can take those responsibilities too.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust if it happens to be a centerman, they\u2019d take over those responsibilities, now if you\u2019re playing with a centerman like Leon, Leon would stay down and take those jobs or responsibilities a little more often. So, Connor does move onto the wing. So, I think it lightens his load on that workage just playing with a guy like Leon too.\u201d<\/p>\n

E-mail: gmoddejonge@postmedia.com<\/a><\/p>\n

On X: @StarkRavinMod<\/a><\/p>\n

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