Oilers coach calls McDavid and Draisaitl's playoff performances remarkable

Edmonton Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch stands behind his bench during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Pittsburgh on March 10, 2024. (Gene J. Puskar)

Kris Knoblauch is five months into watching Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl go to work.

The Oilers rookie head coach witnessed the dynamic duo drag Edmonton back from a disastrous start to the regular season, and they've elevated their game even further this spring.

McDavid leads the playoffs with nine points, joining Wayne Gretzky as the only players in NHL history with eight assists through the first three games of a post-season.

Draisaitl, meanwhile, has three goals and four assists to sit tied with teammate Zach Hyman for second in NHL playoff points. The Oilers, who lead their first-round series with the Los Angeles Kings 2-1, look ahead to Sunday's Game 4.

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"For them to show up and play as well as they have in the playoffs, it's quite significant," Knoblauch said Saturday of McDavid and Draisaitl. "It's not an overstatement to say that is remarkable."

Knoblauch replaced Jay Woodcroft behind Edmonton's bench Nov. 12 when the Oilers ranked second-last in the NHL. The team turned its season around with 97 points in its next 69 games under Knoblauch, with McDavid and Draisaitl driving that comeback.

Playoff production is hardly new for Edmonton's pillars.

With 82 points each in 52 career post-season contests, McDavid and Draisaitl rank second and third all-time in points per game. Their 1.62 average is a touch ahead of Mario Lemieux and trails only the Great One — two players who stacked jaw-dropping numbers in the high-flying 1980s.

"It's remarkable to be mentioned with those two players," Knoblauch said. "Then also to be doing it now when scoring is a lot tighter.

"So many players get a bad rap of, 'Oh yeah, they do it in the regular season, but when things are tough and the checking’s harder and there's not as much space, they fade away.'

"Those two have just elevated their play in the playoffs."

Meanwhile, Knoblauch is getting his first taste of the Stanley Cup playoffs as a head coach.

"It absolutely does feel different," Knoblauch said. "The stress and the amount that goes into decisions, or thought that goes into every decision ... there's a lot on the line.

"But this is why we enjoy doing this."

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Knoblauch left Hartford in the American Hockey League to become Edmonton's head coach. The 45-year-old was a Philadelphia Flyers assistant coach from 2017 to 2019.

Before that, Knoblauch coached major junior's Kootenay Ice to a Western Hockey League championship in 2011 and the Erie Otters to an Ontario Hockey League title in 2017.

He was McDavid's junior coach when the Oilers captain was an Otter. McDavid says Knoblauch's demeanour hasn't changed even though the head coach is facing the highest stakes of his career so far.

"Same old, same old Kris — calm, and he's not freaking out or anything like that,” McDavid said. “This is the same guy that showed up in our dressing room a couple of months ago."

Knoblauch pushed the right buttons in Edmonton’s 6-1 drubbing of the Kings in Friday's Game 3 when he promoted Evander Kane to the second line from the third line. Kane made an impact all over the ice with a goal, an assist and a fight — known as the "Gordie Howe hat trick."

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The Oilers opened the series with a 7-4 win at home, but took their foot off the gas in a 6-5 overtime loss to L.A. in Game 2.

The Kings and Oilers were tied 2-2 after four games in their first-round matchups the last two years. Edmonton wants to reverse that trend Sunday and take a 3-1 lead.

"Game 4 feels like it's always a big swing game,” McDavid said. “We've learned our lesson from Game 2. We came out a little bit flat, didn't match their desperation, spotted them three (goals) in the first and had a difficult time coming back.

“We gotta be ready right off the hop.”

Penalty killers

The Oilers have boasted the NHL’s best power play since McDavid entered the league in 2015. The penalty kill, however, was a weakness this season ranked 15th in the league.

But Edmonton is getting playoff results from its special teams on both fronts. The Oilers are 7-for-14 with the man-advantage and a perfect 10-for-10 on the penalty kill.

"Everybody's going to talk about the power play, but the penalty kill has been the story of the series for me,” Hyman said. “Our power play has always been good … but the penalty kill has really been elevated."

Keeping status quo

Other than shifting Kane into the Oilers’ top six forwards, Knoblauch hasn’t fiddled with his lineup much this post-season.

Forwards Derek Ryan and Connor Brown, who each played 70 or more games this season, have yet to appear in this year's playoffs.

"It is hard. Those are two guys that have played very well for us, especially the past month or two months,” Knoblauch said. “They have been in consideration but we're going to have have injuries. There's going to be times that we have the opportunity to move them in.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 27, 2024