Oilers Connor McDavid was dubbed “McJesus” almost as soon as he arrived in Edmonton as the NHL’s No. 1 draft pick in 2015 because fans were expecting him to walk on water.
While McDavid has been absolutely phenomenal since he first started skating on Edmonton’s frozen water, he has yet to lead the Oilers out of the wilderness. But they are hoping this is the year. After all, McDavid led the NHL with 105 points in only 56 games and is now expected to stickhandle the Oilers into the Promised Land.
Who can stop him?
The Winnipeg Jets are trying to find a way when they take on the Oilers in the best-of-seven Stanley Cup playoff series that starts in Edmonton on Wednesday night.
“You’re not stopping this guy completely,” Jets head coach Paul Maurice told reporters. “If you can do it just the right way against Connor McDavid, he’s still putting points up against you, he’s that level of talent. He’s going to get his on his own, you just can’t help him do it.”
Making it even tougher is that Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl finished second in NHL scoring with 84 points.
But, if the underdog Jets hope to win the series, they will have to concentrate on stopping both of the most prolific scorers in the NHL this season.
“The end goal is the same,” said Jets centre Adam Lowry. “It’s about limiting (McDavid’s) chances, it’s about keeping him to the outside, not letting him get to the speed that he’s so accustomed to getting. We know that he’s going to get his chances. We know that they’re both world-class players, so it’s about limiting the number of chances that they get and when they do get those chances, it’s not two or three, it’s a one-and-done kinda thing.”
Shutting McDavid out would likely translate to a Winnipeg victory in the series.
“I mean, he had 105 points so, if I can shut him down, and he gets zero in the game, I think that really odes well for our chances,” Lowry said. “That’s one of those things where you’re not just going out there with the mindset to of flipping pucks out. You kinda want to get up the ice as well. You kinda want to frustrate them and try to create some chances where we can chip in offensively.”
Jets centre Mark Scheifele is also expected to go head-to-head against McDavid, who scored 22 points as Edmonton beat the Jets in seven of nine games this shortened season.
“There’s no secret they’ve had some success against us,” said Jets captain Blake Wheeler. “We’ve had a tough time, but that’s in the past. What adjustments we need to make, I’m sure not going to tell you what adjustments that we’re gonna make.
“We’re going to give it our all and see what happens in a seven-game series and see how its shakes out.”
Edmonton will host Game 2 on Friday, with Games 3 and 4 in Winnipeg.
BLUE CHIPS – The Jets were hoping that injured forward Nikolaj Ehlers will be healthy enough to return for Game 1 of the playoffs … School’s still out on whether injured Jets centre Pierre-Luc Dubois can return to action … Word out of Edmonton is that Oilers head coach Dave Tippett will split up Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl to start the series.
