McDavid awarded Conn Smythe after ‘uphill climb’
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Greg Wyshynski, ESPN
SUNRISE, Fla. — Connor McDavid won a trophy in Game 7 against the Florida Panthers. Just not the one he wanted to win.
The Edmonton Oilers were defeated by the Florida Panthers, 2-1, to end their miraculous comeback in the Stanley Cup Final, having forced a Game 7 after trailing 3-0 in the series — only the third team in NHL history to accomplish that feat. In leading that comeback, and having a record-breaking postseason, McDavid was announced as the winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player in the 2024 postseason.
McDavid is the sixth player in NHL history to win the Conn Smythe from team that lost in the Stanley Cup Final. He’s only the second skater after Reggie Leach of the Philadelphia Flyers, who was named MVP in 1976. The other winners were all goaltenders who lost in the Final: Jean-Sebastien Giguere of Anaheim in 2003, Ron Hextall of Philadelphia in 1987, Glenn Hall of St. Louis in 1968 and Roger Crozier of Detroit in 1966.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced McDavid as the Conn Smythe winner, with the trophy positioned atop a podium on the ice. There it stayed as Panthers fans booed the selection. McDavid had left for the Edmonton dressing room and did not reemerge to accept the award.
After the game, as the Panthers’ ongoing Cup celebration could be heard in the distance, a despondent McDavid briefly acknowledged the achievement.
“Yeah, obviously, I guess it’s an honor. With the names on that trophy. But … yeah,” he said.
McDavid earned the Conn Smythe thanks to one of the most dominant runs by an individual player in NHL playoff history.
His 42 points are the 4th most in a single postseason in NHL history behind only Wayne Gretzky (47 in 1985 and 43 in 1988) and Mario Lemieux (44 in 1991), who both won the Conn Smythe in those seasons. His 11 points in the Stanley Cup Final were 2 points shy of tying the Stanley Cup Final record held by Wayne Gretzky with 13 in 1988. He posted back-to-back four-point games in the Final, the first player in NHL history to do so, in rallying the Oilers.
But the crowning achievement of his postseason run was shattering Wayne Gretzky’s record for assists in a single postseason (31 in 1988) with 34 helpers in 24 games.
“He’s the greatest player to ever play, in my books,” said his teammate and friend Leon Draisaitl after Game 7. “So many things that a lot of people don’t see that he does. His work ethic. He singlehandedly turned our franchise around, pretty much. Just love sharing the ice with him. He’s just a really, really special person.”
Draisaitl asked about McDavid winning the MVP award in a losing effort.
“I don’t think he cares,” Draisaitl said. “I mean, it speaks to how amazing of a hockey player he is. There’s no player in the world that wants to win a Stanley Cup more than him. He does everything right, every single day, just to win it one day. It’s really hard with him being sad and being disappointed at the end.”
McDavid’s MVP performance stretches back to the regular season, where he led the Oilers back from an atrocious first 12 games (2-9-1) to rally for a playoff berth.
“Proud of the way we fought all year. Behind the 8-ball almost immediately. We fought an uphill climb for months and months and months,” McDavid said. “(This) just … sucks.”
McDavid went from 10 points in his first 11 games to 122 points in his next 65 games.
“You think about the year that Connor had: 100 assists, leading our team; the performance he had in this playoffs, especially in this final round, when we’re down three games to zero and then he comes out with eight points in two games,” said Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch, who also coached McDavid with the Erie Otters in junior hockey.
“Yeah, he’s our leader. He’s our best player. Obviously everybody wanted to win it for the team and we’d like to obviously do it (for) him, the captain of our team,” coach said. “I can’t say enough things about what he provides: the leadership and what he does on the ice.”
McDavid had a frustrating end to his postseason, with no points in the last two games of the Stanley Cup Final.
The Oilers captain praised the Panthers for the way they played in Game 7.
“We knew it was going to be a real tight game and it was going to come down to one thing here and there. We’re an inch away from going ahead 2-1 right before they go ahead 2-1,” he said, referencing a bouncing puck that the Panthers cleared from their crease before Sam Reinhart scored the game-winner in the second period. “They did a good of shutting things down. We had our looks. We just didn’t find it.”
This was the farthest McDavid has ever advanced in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, having established a “Cup or bust” mentality for his team before the season.
In nine seasons, McDavid has captured five scoring titles, one goal-scoring title, three Hart Trophy wins as league MVP and the NHLPA’s player of the year four times. Now, he adds the Conn Smythe Trophy to that collection.
But not the Stanley Cup.
“We never stopped believing. We really believed we were going to get one. Lots of looks. It just didn’t go,” McDavid said. “It sucks … it sucks.”
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Greg Wyshynski
After the New Jersey Devils saw their season end in double overtime Tuesday night, goaltender Jacob Markstrom wanted to express his frustration via his stick. He thought about boomeranging it to the boards. Instead, he swung it hard against his goalpost, breaking it in half.
Sebastian Aho‘s goal at 4:17 of the second overtime in Game 5 gave the Carolina Hurricanes a 5-4 win and a 4-1 series victory over the Devils. It was the first puck Markstrom had fly by him in 37 consecutive shots on goal, dating to the second period. That included 18 saves he made in overtime, as Carolina marauded a short-handed and exhausted Devils defense but couldn’t solve the 35-year-old goalie.
“That was one of the better goaltending performances that I’ve witnessed,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said of Markstrom, who finished with 49 saves. “He let in a few early that he’d like to have back. But once he got dialed in, you’re thinking it’ll have to bank off somebody, because we’re not beating him.”
Markstrom’s frustration wasn’t just with the overtime goal. The Devils built a 3-0 lead in the first period. Carolina scored three times in the first 5:40 of the second period to erase it. New Jersey responded with a Nico Hischier goal, only to have Aho knot the score at 4 moments later.
“We put up four goals on the road,” Markstrom said. “We should have brought it home. It should have been enough.”
But as his teammates noted, Markstrom’s effort in the overtimes should have been enough to win Game 5.
“We were under siege. He was outstanding. We were reeling,” coach Sheldon Keefe said.
“He played unbelievable. Marky kept us in that first overtime,” Hischier said. “I feel bad for him because he battled his ass off.”
Markstrom was acquired by the Devils last offseason in a high-profile deal with the Calgary Flames that was intended to fix the team’s goaltending, which ranked 30th in 2023-24. He won 26 times in 49 games with a .900 save percentage and a 2.50 goals-against average. He was outstanding, for the most part, in the playoffs: .911 save percentage and a 2.78 goals-against average in five games.
But Markstrom couldn’t overcome two things in the postseason for the Devils. The first were their injuries. Already without star center Jack Hughes, who had season-ending shoulder surgery, the Devils saw defensemen Luke Hughes, Johnathan Kovacevic and Brenden Dillon leave the series with injuries, with defensemen Jonas Siegenthaler and Dougie Hamilton playing at less than 100%.
“We had a few guys go down in the series. A few guys step up and battle. We’ve got to get better. We don’t like the result,” forward Timo Meier said.
The other factor was the Devils special teams. Their power play was officially 0-for-15. Their penalty kill allowed six goals on 19 Carolina power plays.
“That’s why we lost the series for sure. We couldn’t get the power play going. That’s on those guys, including me, that are on the ice. That’s definitely frustrating,” Hischier said.
But the Devils gutted out the series, pushing Carolina to double overtime in an elimination game despite those deficiencies.
“There’s a lot of will in this room,” Markstrom said. “It sucks right now.”
ARLINGTON, Texas — Everything came together in the same game for two-time Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom and the Texas Rangers batters.
Texas had a much-needed offensive breakout while deGrom struck out seven over six scoreless innings for his first win in more than two years, though he had pitched well enough to win in several other starts this season.
“When was the last one, ’23? Yeah, it’s been a while,” deGrom said after the Rangers’ 15-2 win over the Athletics on Tuesday night.
“He earned it. He had great stuff tonight, he kept us on our toes,” second baseman Marcus Semien said. “We were just talking about how the time of possession was. You know, we were hitting for a long time and he’s getting quick outs. So usually that’s a good recipe.”
The 36-year-old deGrom (1-1) had gone 737 days since also beating the A’s on April 23, 2023, then made only one more start in his debut season with Texas before Tommy John surgery.
He scattered four singles and didn’t walk a batter in a 65-pitch outing (47 strikes). It was only that short since the right-hander didn’t return after an eight-run outburst in the Rangers sixth that matched their previous season high for runs in an entire game and put them up 12-0.
So just how efficient was deGrom? The right-hander honestly thought he was “probably in the 70s or something to 80,” as did catcher Jonah Heim.
“A lot a strikeouts that I feel like he just overpowered a lot of hitters, which is who he is. He’s got that electric fastball,” Heim said.
“My mechanics were pretty good,” said deGrom, a meticulous worker who was feeling good after a side session the day before the game. “I’m constantly trying to perfect it and get in the best positions that I can get based on performance and health.”
Texas entered the night last in the majors with 91 runs scored, and only 12 combined the previous six games. DeGrom had gotten only nine runs of support in his first five starts.
The Rangers snapped a three-game losing streak while setting season highs for runs, hits (18) and walks (nine). They had three bases-clearing doubles in the same game for the first time in team history – Adolis García and Wyatt Langford each had one during a four-batter stretch in that big sixth, and Kyle Higashioka added his three-run double in the eighth.
Their offensive outburst came after the full squad was required to be on the field for batting practice before the game.
“Good to see you guys break out and have a good game. … Some success, it’s contagious,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “You’re hoping this is something these guys can build on, build some confidence.”
For deGrom, he improved to 3-1 with a 2.55 ERA in his 15 starts for the Rangers since signing a $185 million, five-year contract in December 2022. He is 85-58 in 224 career starts, the first 209 with the New York Mets from 2014-2022.
“He was really good tonight. You know, I said when season started, it’s just going to get better with him as he builds up his strength and stamina,” Bochy said. “Really good command tonight, really good stuff. And it’s just getting better with him.”
BALTIMORE — The New York Yankees became the first team in major league history to open a game with three consecutive home runs more than once in a season when Trent Grisham, Aaron Judge and Ben Rice went deep off Baltimore‘s Kyle Gibson in the first inning Tuesday night.
New York started the bottom of the first of its March 29 game against Milwaukee with three homers in a row. In that game, Paul Goldschmidt, Cody Bellinger and Judge needed only three pitches to hit three homers.
The Yankees added a fourth home run later in the first inning of both that game and Tuesday’s game, making them the first team to belt four in the first inning twice in a season.
On Tuesday night, the Yankees hit three of the game’s first five offerings out to right field.
“Grish got it going for us and set the tone for us early on,” Judge said after the 15-3 win. “When he goes up there and … sends one to Eutaw Street, it’s pretty impressive and gets you going.”
It was an ugly return to the majors for the 37-year-old Gibson, who made 30 starts for the St. Louis Cardinals last season before Baltimore signed him to a $5.25 million, one-year contract in late March. He’d been working in the minors since then before being called up before Tuesday’s game. He was finally pulled with two outs in the fourth after allowing nine runs and 11 hits.
“He gave up four homers in the first inning. That’s kind of a telling sign,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said. “At that point I’m just trying to figure out how we’re going to get through the game.”
After Rice’s home run made it 3-0, Gibson retired Goldschmidt on a grounder before Bellinger also homered. Anthony Volpe‘s RBI double made it 5-0 before the first inning was over.
Rice homered again in the second to make it 6-0. Austin Wells hit New York’s final home run — all six came with nobody on — with two outs in the ninth.
“It just shows that we’ve got a lot of depth in the lineup,” Rice said.
Not all the news was great for the Yankees, however. Jazz Chisholm Jr. left the game with right flank discomfort in the first inning.
Chisholm, who is hitting .181 with seven home runs this season, appeared to have hurt himself while he was batting. After being checked on, he stayed at the plate and hit a double, advancing to third on an error by right fielder Ramon Laureano.
Chisholm said he wasn’t worried about needing to go on the injured list.
“I’m really not as concerned as everybody else,” Chisholm said. “I tore my oblique before. I know it’s not torn or anything.”
The Associated Press and ESPN Research contributed to this report.
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