Achi news desk-
Kris Knoblauch is five months into watching Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl go to work.
The Oilers rookie head coach saw the dynamic duo drag Edmonton back from a disastrous start to the regular season, and they have 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 postseason.
Meanwhile, Draisaitl has three goals and four assists to sit 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 forward to Game 4 on Sunday.
“For them to show up and play as well as they have in the playoffs, it’s pretty significant,” Knoblauch said Saturday of McDavid and Draisaitl. “It’s not an overstatement to say that’s amazing.”
Knoblauch replaced Jay Woodcroft behind Edmonton’s bench Nov. 12 when the Oilers finished second 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 result.
Making a playoff is hardly new to Edmonton’s pillars.
With 82 points apiece in 52 career postseason contests, McDavid and Draisaitl are second and third all-time in points per game. Their 1.62 average is a touch ahead of Mario Lemieux and trails only the Big One – two players who put up staggering numbers in the high-flying 1980s.
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“It’s amazing to be mentioned with those two players,” Knoblauch said. “Then also to be doing it now when scoring is much tougher.
“So many players get a bad rap of, ‘Oh yeah, they do it in the regular season, but when things are tough and the checks are tougher and there’s not as much space, they are’ n disappear.’
“Those two just elevated their play in the playoffs.”
Meanwhile, Knoblauch is getting his first taste of the Stanley Cup playoffs as a head coach.
“It feels completely different,” Knoblauch said. “The stress and the amount that goes into decisions, or the thought that goes into every decision … there’s a lot on the line.
“But this is why we enjoy doing this.”
Knoblauch left Hartford in the American Hockey League to become Edmonton’s head coach. The 45-year-old was an assistant coach of the Philadelphia Flyers between 2017 and 2019.
Prior to that, Knoblauch coached the junior major Kootenay Ice to the Western Hockey League championship in 2011 and the Erie Otters to the Ontario Hockey League title in 2017.
He was McDavid’s junior coach when the Oilers captain was an Otter. McDavid says Knoblauch’s demeanor 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 doesn’t freak out or anything like that,” McDavid said. “This is the same guy who showed up in our dressing room a few months ago.”
Knoblauch pushed the right buttons in Edmonton’s 6-1 rout of the Kings in Friday’s Game 3 when he promoted Evander Kane to the second line of the third line. Kane impressed all over the ice with a goal, an assist and a fight – known as the “Gordie Howe hat trick.”
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 LA in Game 2.
The Kings and Oilers were tied 2-2 after four games in their first round games the past two years. Edmonton looks to reverse that trend on 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 bit flat, didn’t match their desperation, conceded them three (goals) in the first and had a difficult time coming back.
“We must be ready at once.”
PUNISHMENT 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 ranking 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 is the story of the series for me,” Hyman said. “Our power play has always been good … but the penalty kill has been elevated.”
KEEP STATUS QUO
Besides moving Kane into the Oilers’ top six forwards, Knoblauch hasn’t played much with his lines this postseason.
Forwards Derek Ryan and Connor Brown, who each played 70 or more games this season, have yet to appear in the playoffs this year.
“It’s difficult. Those are two guys that have played really well for us, especially the last month or two,” Knoblauch said. “They have been under consideration but we are going to have injuries. There will be times when we have the opportunity to move them in.”
& copy 2024 The Canadian Press
