2023-24 Playoff Focus: Connor McDavid (SCF, GM5)
Have the Oilers cracked the code?
They can’t all be 8-1 drubbings.
Against a much more competitive Panthers outfit (77.9 xGF% at 5-on-5), Edmonton had to rely on opportunistic offense—including three special teams goals—to emerge victorious on Tuesday night.
As you might expect, Connor McDavid spearheaded that charge. The Oilers’ captain may not have controlled the action to the extent that he usually does, but he possesses an unparalleled ability to convert the smallest mistake into a scoring chance. The margin for error is razor-thin when he’s on the ice:
McDavid (EDM 97) sets the tone in the first period via puck pursuit. Since he boasts a speed advantage over…basically the entire league, he can apply pressure without granting the breakout any leverage to work with. On this sequence, he smothers Evan Rodrigues’ (FLA 17) head of steam as well as his escape route, which allows him to steal the biscuit and spot a sinking Mattias Ekholm (EDM 14) for a one-timer from the circle.
Forecheck to scoring opportunity in four seconds flat.
Early in the series, it was difficult for the Oilers to exploit such windows vs. Florida’s matchup personnel. Thankfully, Edmonton may have identified the key to solving the Gustav Forsling problem: keep him busy with other bodies. Rather than running into a brick wall on entry, McDavid has begun to let his linemates assume control of the front line.
Once they link up with him in the OZ, he can now attack with pace and space:
While Forsling (FLA 42) puts out the initial fire (EDM 37) here, Carter Verhaeghe (FLA 23) fails to pick up his man in coverage. Sergei Bobrovsky (FLA 72) anticipates either a cross-slot setup or the high short-side wrister that McDavid likes from this spot. Sneaky shot along the ice —> 3-0.
The best player in the world is no longer locking horns with the league’s top shutdown artist. He’s entering the fray later in the buildup and picking apart inferior defenders as a result.
On the rare occasions when Forsling is on the bench—a blunder in and of itself—McDavid can reclaim his post as the tip of the spear and eat you alive:
Faced with the pairing of Niko Mikkola (FLA 77) and Dmitry Kulikov (FLA 7), McDavid activates his green light on the rush and uses Mikkola’s 6’5” build against him, deking backhand to forehand through his triangle to push the hulking defender between the hashes. This manipulation carves a path through the jaws of Florida’s blue line and buys time for Corey Perry (EDM 90) to crash the back door.
Incredible hands and spatial awareness.
The Panthers—especially Matthew Tkachuk—showed some fight and nearly overcame a 4-1 deficit in the second half of the contest. To McDavid’s credit, he played a role in defending the lead too:
Although he certainly has his flaws on defense, his supernatural wheels enable him to harass puck-carriers on the backcheck. Watch how much ground he makes up on Kyle Okposo (FLA 8), tormenting him from two different angles before shepherding him to the boards. A 3-on-2 becomes an easy DZ retrieval. That’s winning hockey.
The Oilers didn’t tilt the ice in Game 5, but McDavid helped them pounce on seemingly every Panthers slip-up. Big picture, Edmonton may have also found a way to take the only defender who can contain him out of the equation.
Uh-oh.
On the night, he led all skaters in EV expected goals and posted 4 points (2G, 2A) in 24:37 TOI.
Here are the full highlights: