Connor McDavid's 1,000th NHL Point: Leon-Connor Connection
McDavid and Draisaitl are two names that constantly find ways to create off each other and create offense in any sort of way for the Edmonton Oilers. They always make themselves available, they feed off each other both at 5v5 and at even strength, and they are so elite when it comes to managing the game and tempo in many different ways. They have different styles, but those different styles complement each other really nicely, allowing for the perfect blend of skill and speed.
Last night, Connor McDavid became the 4th fastest player in NHL history to reach 1,000 points, as he and Leon Draisaitl of course made the connection on the goal to make the historic mark. It was a classic sequence, with a 2v1 odd-man rush with Leon on the puck, and Connor waiting on the far side for the pass. Usually it’s the other way around, however, this time it was Connor who was the one scoring the goal.
Nashville messed up this sequence entirely, with the initial puck carrier trying to start this sequence by trying to dump the puck in on the weak side of the D zone for Edmonton, with D1/D2 just inside the blue line looking to stop that from happening. This backfires completely, ideally a strong side rim around would’ve worked had there not been pressure forcing Nashville to try and dump that way. The pressure from Edmonton didn’t allow the NSH player to turn and dump the puck in on the strong side, which would’ve surely went behind the net in this sequence.
Instead, what happens is the puck ends up right in the weak side D’s hands of EDM just inside the blue, and with NSH looking to change, EDM has Draisaitl and McDavid lurking almost entirely alone up ice. Draisaitl turns his body to the play to open up and receive the pass, and all McDavid has to do here is really wait for the pass and hold the blue line to prevent going offsides.
Draisaitl does a really underrated job getting this pass through to McDavid on the sequence, a pass that was a lot harder to execute than it looked on video:
The ability to lure the NSH defenseman in was exactly what Draisaitl wanted, since he had multiple options. By veering to the middle with the puck initially, it not only drew that defender in, but gave him a better option to shoot if he wanted to. That became a dual-threat for him in this sequence, where either way if he was passing or shooting, he has great space to utilize either way.
The sauce from Draisaitl was perfect, since he passed it immediately as the NSH defenseman tried to poke the puck away from him with his stick. That sweeping motion from NSH’s defenseman allowed room for Draisaitl to pass over the top, allowing the puck to get over to McDavid on the other side here as well.