McDavid, Draisaitl continuing to flourish for Oilers in Stanley Cup Final

EDMONTON -- Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl have established themselves as one of the greatest scoring duos in the history of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The big questions now: When do the Edmonton Oilers play them apart? When do they put them together? Will McDavid and Draisaitl join the other greatest scoring duos by hoisting the Stanley Cup? If one of them wins the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoffs’ most valuable player, which one will it be?

McDavid won the Conn Smythe last season, even though the Oilers lost to the Florida Panthers in seven games in the Cup Final. He leads the playoffs with 28 points (six goals, 22 assists) in 17 games this season, but Draisaitl is right behind with 27 points (nine goals, 18 assists) in 17 games.

After McDavid set up Draisaitl for the winning goal on the power play in Edmonton’s 4-3 overtime victory against Florida in Game 1 of the Cup Final at Rogers Place on Wednesday, Draisaitl said it was “pretty easy” for him to score. McDavid said of his teammate: “There’s not many better -- maybe nobody better.”

McDavid and Draisaitl will be must-see TV in Game 2 here Friday (8 p.m. ET; CBC, TVAS, SN, TNT, truTV, MAX).

Among players who have appeared in at least 35 playoff games, McDavid (1.59) ranks third in points per game in NHL history. Draisaitl (1.48) ranks fourth. The only players in front of them? Wayne Gretzky (1.84) and Mario Lemieux (1.61).

McDavid and Draisaitl have factored on the same playoff goal 71 times in their careers. Only three duos have factored on the same playoff goal more often: Gretzky and Jari Kurri (132), Glenn Anderson and Mark Messier (86), and Mike Bossy and Bryan Trottier (85). Each of those duos won the Cup multiple times.

In the playoffs this season, McDavid has played 6:43:25, Draisaitl has played 6:17:04, and they’ve been on the ice together for 3:43:51. They have factored on the same goal 14 times. No other duo in the NHL has factored into the same goal more than 10 times.

“Obviously, you know, they play incredibly well together,” Oilers forward Evander Kane said. “They read off each other well. They have different skill sets that elevate their skill sets together. And you know, at certain times of the game, as a group we like to go to that. The coaching staff likes to go to that.”

You wonder why the coaching staff wouldn’t go to that all the time, but there are good reasons. When McDavid and Draisaitl each centers his own line, the Oilers have a one-two punch. Draisaitl skates more at center than he does on the wing, and so he’s more involved. It spreads out the scoring and creates difficult matchups.

“I think it also allows the rest of our team [to know] that they’ve got a role,” Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said. “They’ve got to play well, and we’re not just relying on this one line that’s going to do all the work.”

The Oilers always have the option of putting McDavid and Draisaitl together -- say, on the power play, after a successful penalty kill, for an offensive-zone face-off or when they need a goal playing from behind. McDavid and Draisaitl have such high hockey IQs and know each other so well that they can click quickly.

“It’s nice to know that when those two get together midgame, that the results are pretty good,” Knoblauch said. “But yeah, it’s something that we can’t rely on.”

The Oilers started with McDavid and Draisaitl each centering his own line in Game 1. But they put them together often, especially after falling behind. Three times, they got them out against Florida’s fourth line for an offensive-zone face-off after an icing.

Panthers coach Paul Maurice said matching up against the duo is more of a challenge on the road without the last change. The entire Florida lineup watches the same video so everyone understands what it’s going to look like.

“That’s just an inevitable part of it,” Maurice said. “You’ll find it usually maybe a minute and a half more on the road than you would at home.”

McDavid and Draisaitl were on the ice together for 19:21 in all situations in Game 1; Edmonton had 72.9 percent of the shot attempts. They were on the ice together for 13:54 at 5-on-5; the Oilers had 61.8 percent of the shot attempts.

“I think when they play together, they’re obviously very creative players, and they make everyone around them better,” said Panthers defenseman Seth Jones, who played more against McDavid (13:55) and Draisaitl (12:28) than anyone else. “They like to look for each other. Especially when they play together, little give-and-gos, things like that, and then they’re dangerous off the rush too.

“Whether they’re playing together or apart, it’s a five-man unit defending. Holdups, little things like that, just being physical on them, is going to help us at the end of the day.”

NHL Stats contributed to this report