Connor McDavid on Oilers’ win streak, NHL rule changes, his marriage plans
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Greg Wyshynski, ESPN
Thanks to his exceptional speed, it feels like Connor McDavid has a head start on anyone he’s skating against in the NHL. But before he even played a minute as a pro, McDavid said he wanted a head start against the competition off the ice through his training.
That included his diet. McDavid started working with former NHL player Gary Roberts and his training team three years before his rookie season in 2015-16, getting a better sense of what was right for his body from a nutrition and hydration standpoint.
“You know how passionate they are about nutrition and everything like that,” McDavid told ESPN. “So I already had a good dose of that before coming to the NHL. I knew it was super important.”
All of that training and nutrition has paid off, as McDavid is one of the world’s best players, and his Oilers are on a 16-game winning streak.
We caught up with the Edmonton Oilers star this week ahead of NHL All-Star Weekend in Toronto, an event he has certainly put his stamp on this season. McDavid worked with the NHL to help bring Friday night’s skills competition back to its “hockey roots.” He’s also captaining one of the four teams in Saturday’s NHL All-Star Game.
Here’s the reigning NHL MVP on the red-hot Oilers proving doubters wrong, whether they should have fired Jay Woodcroft, potential rules changes for video reviews and overtime, and his favorite non-hockey athlete to watch.
Note: The interview has been lightly edited for clarity.
The NHL All-Star Weekend is here and you’re a big part of it. How much did you enjoy helping to revamp the skills competition, especially knowing that the event is in Toronto near where you grew up?
McDavid: Well, I think after last year everyone maybe knew there needed to be a change. I thought it just got a little bit out of hand on some of the gimmicky things. We were missing the essence of what an All-Star Game is, and that’s to showcase the talent of the athletes, the hockey players and the skills that we have, because they are unique.
So I’m excited that you’re going see some more … I’ll say “normal” events, which is something that I think players are excited about. Having 12 of the best players in the world go at it for [the] crown is exciting. It’s a unique opportunity and something that I hope the fans enjoy.
Plus, you saved a bunch of NHL players from having to go into a dunk tank in Toronto in February, which is pretty noble of you.
McDavid: Yeah, it’s not easy to dunk someone when it’s iced over.
You and Oilers teammate Leon Draisaitl are captains of one of the All-Star squads. Have you discussed draft strategy yet?
McDavid: We haven’t. I’m hoping that [celebrity captain] Will Arnett knows hockey. I think we’ll hand over the draft card to him and let him do his thing.
As we speak, the Oilers are on a massive winning streak. Is there some level of satisfaction in proving those critics wrong who wrote off your team or called you overrated after the slow start?
McDavid: I think when you’re last place in NHL just six weeks into the season, people call you everything under the sun. So it’s rewarding for our group that we’ve stuck together and we’ve kind of dug ourselves out of that.
Our group has oddly gotten comfortable doing that. I think back of the past two seasons, we’ve kind of had those stretches, I think back to the 2021-22 season: We can’t win a game for six weeks and ultimately bring in [coach Jay Woodcroft] and go on a great run and make some noise in the playoffs. We were kind of a bubble playoff team last year until we traded for Mattias Ekholm and go on this amazing run.
So we’re ultimately a little bit used to some of that noise, that negativity that comes from the media sometimes. But we have stuck together in there through it all and it feels good to just to be back in the mix of things coming down here in the second half.
You mentioned Jay Woodcroft. When he was fired earlier this year, you said ‘a good man lost his job.’ You can never know when these streaks are gonna happen. You never know why they don’t happen for certain coaches. With the benefit of hindsight, do you think this kind of streak could have happened under Jay, or did a change have to be made?
McDavid: That’s a great question. I think that there were a lot of a lot of things that were going on when we had Jay that were … I wasn’t playing very well. So when his best player’s not playing very well, you’re gonna struggle. Our goaltending wasn’t great. The penalty kill was struggling. We couldn’t keep pucks out of our net. That’s not a lot of things to do with the coaching staff.
I always say you can feel when things are starting to turn. We could feel that things were turning and our game was getting there. Ultimately, they have. It’s too bad that Woody lost his job because we all really did care for him. He’s a great person and a great coach. He’ll land on his feet somewhere for sure in the NHL.
With all that being said, I think Kris [Knoblauch] has come in and done an amazing job. He’s got a great hockey mind. He’s super smart. He’s different than the other coaches I’ve had in years past — he’s not maybe your typical hockey guy. He is not old school or anything like that. So he is definitely a fresh voice.
Earlier this year, you talked about that offside review that happened in your game against Chicago and how long it took to make a call. It became kind of a big story around the league. You said that ‘the guys just want clarity on the rules.’ One of the things that I think would give it clarity is if we just got rid of offside in the video review process — if we just didn’t make it reviewable anymore. Is that something you’d be in favor of doing?
McDavid: Something interesting would be putting a time limit on the review. If you can’t tell it’s offside within a minute, it probably doesn’t really matter — or 30 seconds or whatever. When we’re zooming in and zooming in and you zoom in until you can’t zoom in any longer, it’s probably not a huge deal.
What’s actually funny about that is the next night I scored that goal in Detroit and we got back to the bench and we’re like, “We don’t even know if it’s onside or not.” So they were trying to challenge. They didn’t know what the rule was. Ultimately, they didn’t even challenge, but you know, it’s kind of funny how I made those comments and the next night it was actually went in our favor. So we’ll take that.
Speaking of rules and clocks: I covered the GM meetings recently and they talked about some potential changes to the 3-on-3 overtime, trying to discourage teams from slowing down the pace. Obviously, the Oilers have been a very exciting 3-on-3 team with you through the years. What did you think about them trying to tweak the overtime rules a little bit?
McDavid: I like it. Again, within reason. I just don’t want it to be too gimmicky or anything like that, or hard to understand for fans or for players. But if there’s something that’s clear and obvious and that makes sense to everybody, to improve the game is a great thing. I’m all for improving overtime. If that’s a [shot] clock, great. If not, then, it is what it is.
Who is your current favorite non-hockey athlete to watch?
My favorite current non-hockey athlete … I’m gonna go with a fellow Body Armor guy in Christian McCaffrey right now [McDavid has also partnered with sports drink Body Armor]. Going to the Super Bowl. The guy’s on fire. He had an absolutely amazing year. I was watching the game the other day. He scored a touchdown and the announcer said, “Death, taxes and Christian McCaffrey scoring a touchdown are the only guarantees.”
And that’s what it feels like right now with him. He is unstoppable. You give him the ball enough times, he’s gonna break it loose.
It’s kind of weird hearing Connor McDavid talk about another athlete’s inevitability. I mean, that’s what we talk about with you all the time.
McDavid: In some years, yeah.
Finally, you’re a very busy guy. You got the Oilers, you’ve got the promotional thing and the endorsement thing, and the being Connor McDavid thing. The people want to know: What is your role in wedding planning ahead of your nuptials in July with your fiancée, Lauren Kyle? What is Connor McDavid responsible for in setting up this wedding?
McDavid: Connor McDavid is responsible for getting his guys dressed and down the aisle. That is all. We took care of that this morning. Had a call this morning with the guys that’ll be dressing us up. So my job is done. Now I just gotta worry about getting ’em down [the aisle].
No cake tasting? No editing the DJ’s playlist?
McDavid: No, that’s pretty much all I’ve been assigned. Which is good.
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Greg Wyshynski, ESPN
Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin took the blame for his team’s opening round sweep at the hands of the New York Rangers, the first time the star winger ever went scoreless in a playoff series.
“It’s always tough to lose a series. We had pretty good chances. We just didn’t score. Our line didn’t score lots of goals,” he said after a 4-2 Rangers win on Sunday night in Washington, D.C. “Blame me. I didn’t play well.”
Ovechkin, 38, played 15:26 in Game 4, his sixth-smallest amount of ice time in a playoff game. That included just 3:22 in the first period — 16 seconds less than New York Rangers rookie Matt Rempe.
Ovechkin said after Game 4 that he was healthy in the series.
The sweep marked the first time in Ovechkin’s 15 trips to the Stanley Cup playoffs that he was held without a point in a series. His five shots on goal were also a career postseason low: While Ovechkin was tied for 19th in the regular season in shots on goal (272), he failed to register a shot in Games 1 and 4 against the Rangers.
It was a rough series for Ovechkin beyond the score traditional score sheet. Washington coach Spencer Carbery said that his captain was “struggling” after their Game 2 loss to the Rangers, which included a critical Ovechkin turnover on a power play that led to a shorthanded goal that gave New York a 4-2 lead late in the second period.
Carbery hoped that home ice advantage in Games 3 and 4 might offer Ovechkin friendlier matchups, but the winger couldn’t get his offense going.
One major issue was the Capitals’ power play, which was humbled by the Rangers’ penalty kill. Washington went 0-for-8 at home in Games 3 and 4, going 2-for-17 in the series.
Ovechkin is tied for eighth all-time in postseason power-play goals (28 in 151 games).
“The power play is such a big part of it, when it’s struggling and he’s not getting opportunities,” Carbery said. “They checked him so tightly over there that every time he gets the puck, he has a half second to make a play and there’s usually a stick and some shin pads on it. I think that played a major role for him in this series.”
But the bigger issues, according to the Capitals coach, was how much energy Ovechkin had to expend just to get the team into the postseason in the final wild-card spot. Ovechkin scored 13 goals in his last 17 games of the season.
“I think that this year, leaning on him down the stretch the second half of the year, he did an incredible job finding his game,” Carbery said. “We were so scoring challenged all season long. In the second half [after the trade deadline] it was even more of a challenge. That was a lot, the second half of the year. Especially the last two weeks where every game felt like life and death for our team. I felt like that took a lot out of him physically and mentally heading into the playoffs.”
Next season will be Ovechkin’s 20th in the NHL. He’s 41 goals away from equaling Wayne Gretzky’s NHL career record total.
Throughout his record chase, Ovechkin has been adamant that he wants to play for a Capitals team that contends for the postseason and not just one trying to service his pursuit of history.
When asked if he’s worried this might be his last trip to the playoffs, Ovechkin said, “I hope I’m still going to get a couple more chances.”
The Rangers, winners of the Presidents’ Trophy for the league’s best record, advance to the second round to face the winner of the Carolina Hurricanes vs. the New York Islanders, which Carolina leads 3-1.
WASHINGTON — Artemi Panarin scored the go-ahead goal on the power play early in the third period, Igor Shesterkin made 23 saves and the New York Rangers advanced to the second round of the playoffs by finishing off a sweep of the Washington Capitals with a 4-2 victory in Game 4 on Sunday night.
Trade deadline pickup Jack Roslovic sealed it with an empty-netter with 51 seconds left, and the Rangers next will face either the Carolina Hurricanes or crosstown rival New York Islanders with a spot in the Eastern Conference finals at stake. Carolina leads that series 3-1.
They’ll get the benefit of some extra rest thanks to Panarin’s goal with 16:39 left in regulation, 11 seconds after T.J. Oshie was penalized for high-sticking Vincent Trocheck, which helped them avoid overtime or this series returning to Madison Square Garden for a Game 5 on Wednesday. The Presidents’ Trophy winners for having the best regular season in the NHL needed just four to vanquish the Capitals and become the first team to advance this spring.
It was New York’s first sweep since 2007, when they ousted the Atlanta Thrashers in the firstg round.
New York moves on thanks to another dominant performance from Trocheck, who was the best player on the ice all series. Trocheck long before drawing the crucial penalty scored on the power play and broke up a scoring chance by Alex Ovechkin, who was held off the scoresheet entirely through four games — the first time that has happened in a single postseason in the Capitals captain’s 15 trips.
But he was not Washington’s only problem, and part of the lack of offense was Shesterkin, who several times sparked chants of “Igor! Igor!” from the many Rangers fans in attendance. He turned aside Dylan Strome 14 seconds after Kaapo Kakko scored in the first minute to put them ahead and later made back-to-back saves on Tom Wilson’s point-blank chances on the doorstep.
Trocheck, Shesterkin and MVP candidate Panarin leading a victory is nothing new, but Kakko contributing made him the 11th New York player to score a goal in the series. That came after Nick Jensen turned the puck over on his first shift back from a two-week injury absence, and Kakko beat Charlie Lindgren for a goal that could boost his confidence after a rough regular season.
Lindgren, who has not lacked self-belief, couldn’t again play the hero despite stopping 19 of the 22 shots he faced. Youngsters Martin Fehervary and Hendrix Lapierre scored for Washington, a significant underdog now able to take solace in making the playoffs as a building block for the future.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Injuries have forced the Vancouver Canucks to change goalies now for a third time in their first four playoff games.
Thanks to Casey DeSmith and now Arturs Silovs winning the first postseason games of their careers, the Canucks are making history and are one victory away from the next round.
Silovs made 27 saves in his NHL playoff debut Sunday as Vancouver rallied and staggered Nashville with a 4-3 overtime victory.
A sixth-round pick in the 2019 draft, Silovs said he had a little bit of a blackout at the final horn and didn’t know who hugged him first. But with All-Star Thatcher Demko and then DeSmith both sidelined by injuries, Silovs learned Saturday he would be starting.
“It was great. My time to shine,” Silovs said.
The Canucks became only the second team in NHL history to have three different goalies win each of their first three games in a postseason. Vancouver also did it during the 2004 Western quarterfinals with Dan Cloutier in Game 1, Johan Hedberg in Game 3 and Alex Auld in Game 6.
Chicago in the 1972 quarterfinals was the only other team in NHL history with three different goalies to win a game at any point in a series. Tony Esposito won Game 1, Gary Smith took Game 3 and Gerry Desjardins was in net for Game 4.
The Canucks started Demko in a Game 1 win in the All-Star goalie’s third game back from a knee injury that sidelined him March 9. Coach Rick Tocchet announced Demko is week-to-week with an unspecified injury.
That’s when DeSmith started both Games 2 and 3, and he got his first postseason victory Friday night. DeSmith was leveled by a hit from Predators forward Michael McCarron behind the net, which earned McCarron a $2,000 fine from the NHL on Saturday. DeSmith was seen at practice Saturday.
Tocchet said DeSmith is dealing with an injury. Asked who will start in net Tuesday night for Game 5 with Vancouver having a chance to clinch a series on home ice for the first time since the 2011 Western Conference final, Tocchet said they would evaluate DeSmith’s status Monday.
“It’s next man up, so I think that’s the approach and we’ll see how it shakes out,” Tocchet said.
A native of Riga, Latvia, Silovs is 6-2-1 with a 2.62 goals against average and an .898 save percentage in the regular season. He leaned on his experience playing for Latvia in the world championships in this game.
“It was like the same atmosphere, I would say,” Silovs said. “Either they boo you or they’re for you. It’s always great to play.”
Tocchet didn’t think Silovs looked nervous, even before the game when the goalie wasn’t saying much.
“I don’t think the moment’s too big for him,” Tocchet said. “I like his demeanor. I think watching Casey and watching Demmer is something that he’s watched the last couple of years for help.”
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