- Knoblauch is sticking with McDavid and Draisaitl on the top line for elimination Game 6 in Anaheim
- The pairing helped fuel a 4-1 Game 5 win, with Draisaitl scoring twice and McDavid adding two assists in 24:09 of ice time
- Read below for Knoblauch’s reasoning, McDavid’s status, and what it means heading into Honda Center
Kris Knoblauch is hitting the big red button again.
The Oilers head coach confirmed Wednesday that Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl will once again skate together on the top line for Game 6 against the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center on Thursday (10 p.m. EST, TNT, HBO Max). Edmonton trails the best-of-7 series 3-2 and faces elimination for the second straight game.
Knoblauch first deployed the duo on a line in Tuesday’s must-win Game 5, with Kasperi Kapanen rounding out the trio. McDavid played 24:09 in his return from a Game 2 ankle injury and chipped in a pair of assists. Draisaitl exploded for two goals, Evan Bouchard piled up three assists, and the Oilers cruised to a 4-1 victory.
The reasoning is simple. McDavid is still working through the ankle injury he suffered after a collision with teammate Mattias Ekholm in Game 2, and Knoblauch wants to lighten his load by giving him a second elite playmaker on the same shift.
“Absolutely, 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,” Knoblauch told NHL.com. “Obviously, he’s got some pretty good support there with Leon being able to make plays, but also Kapanen. Kapanen’s been playing well too.”
The chemistry came back in a hurry. Edmonton scored three times in the opening 10:13 of Game 5, and the McDavid-Draisaitl tandem was directly involved on multiple goals.
Highlights of the wire-to-wire win:
Knoblauch admitted McDavid and Draisaitl haven’t been the wrecking ball at 5-on-5 they usually are this season. But with Edmonton’s season on the line, he wasn’t going to overthink it.
“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’ hands and let them dictate where this game is going to go,” Knoblauch said.
Draisaitl’s two goals tied Wayne Gretzky for the most postseason power-play goals in Oilers history at 23. He also took faceoffs throughout the night, with the two captains splitting draws based on matchups.
McDavid led the league with 138 points (48 goals, 90 assists) in 82 regular-season games. Draisaitl finished second on the team with 97 points in just 65 games after missing time with his own injury. The Oilers will need both of them dialed in if they want a Game 7 back home in Edmonton.
Game 6 drops Thursday night.
