Inside the numbers: Where Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl rank as an all-time playoff duo

EDMONTON, Alberta -- Mark Messier and Wayne Gretzky are the 2 highest-scoring players successful Stanley Cup playoffs history. But Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl conscionable passed the Edmonton Oilers' dynastic duo successful the NHL grounds books for 1 peculiar achievement.

"They're the champion players of their generation," said Messier, who is 2nd (295 points successful 236 games) to Gretzky (382 points successful 208 games) successful all-time postseason scoring.

Gretzky and Messier had 28 playoff games successful which they some scored aggregate points. Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final connected Friday against the Florida Panthers was the 29th crippled successful which McDavid (three assists) and Draisaitl (goal, assist) some had aggregate points successful a postseason game, passing Messier and The Great One.

They way Gretzky and Glenn Anderson by 1 crippled for 2nd each clip successful this class but volition request immoderate clip to lucifer Gretzky and linemate Jari Kurri, who had 44 multipoint games unneurotic with Edmonton and Los Angeles.

"It's really unbelievable for a franchise similar Edmonton to person had the teams and the players that person travel done there, Messier said. "There are NHL teams that person been astir everlastingly and ne'er had a Bobby Orr oregon Mario Lemieux. For a squad that had Gretzky to present person McDavid and Draisaitl is unbelievable."

Of course, Messier was nary slouch either. The Hockey Hall of Fame halfway is 3rd successful NHL past with 1,887 vocation points. He and Gretzky won 4 Stanley Cups unneurotic successful Edmonton, earlier Messier won different with the Oilers aft The Great One was traded to Los Angeles. They were the motor for those teams, with Gretzky (252 points) and Messier (215 points) arsenic the archetypal and 2nd playoff scorers successful Edmonton history. McDavid (148 points successful 92 games) is fifth, portion Draisaitl (137 successful 92 games) is sixth.

McDavid and Draisaitl eclipsing an accomplishment by Gretzky and Messier is poetic. Both sets of stars were the first- and second-line centers connected the Oilers. All of them person been NHL MVPs. The existent Edmonton standard-bearers are trying to bring the archetypal Stanley Cup to the metropolis since the Oilers' dynasty ended successful 1990.

"They've been successful this enactment for a agelong clip now. Two of the champion players successful the world. Everyone knows however overmuch they mean to the Oilers," said their goalie, Stuart Skinner, who grew up successful Edmonton arsenic an Oilers fan.

Draisaitl was drafted third successful 2014 by Edmonton down defenseman Aaron Ekblad and halfway Sam Reinhart, some of whom are present connected the Panthers. McDavid was the coveted first prime successful 2015 whom Edmonton drafted aft winning the lottery and moving up from No. 3.

McDavid and Draisaitl led the Oilers to the Stanley Cup Final past play and astir rallied them from a 3-0 bid shortage to the Panthers earlier losing successful Game 7. McDavid finished with 42 points successful 25 games. Draisaitl had 31 points successful the aforesaid span.

This postseason, McDavid leads the playoffs with 31 points, portion Draisaitl is 2nd with 29 points.

Draisaitl has scored astatine slightest 10 goals successful 3 consecutive postseasons, joining New York Islanders fable Mike Bossy (four from 1980 to 1993) and Gretzky (three from 1983 to 1985) arsenic the lone players to person done so.

This is McDavid's 3rd 30-point postseason, tying him with Messer for second-most each clip down Gretzky, who had six. Assuming Draisaitl gets to 30 points, it volition besides beryllium his 3rd 30-point postseason. Draisaitl's adjacent constituent volition besides acceptable a caller NHL grounds for him and McDavid: No different teammates successful Stanley Cup playoffs past person had back-to-back 30-point postseasons.

Not adjacent Gretzky and Messier.

"I deliberation Oilers fans admit it due to the fact that of the 1980s and past the agelong drought and present what they person with McDavid and Draisaitl," Messier said. "There's appreciation of their drive, enactment ethic, endowment and determination to beryllium the best. They've shown each 1 of those attributes."

AT THE END of Game 1 of the Western Conference finals, arsenic the Dallas Stars were celebrating a miraculous third-period comeback win, Draisaitl and McDavid simultaneously turned their heads to glimpse astatine each different connected the Oilers bench.

The Oilers are 3-0 and person outscored Dallas 13-2 since this knowing glimpse pic.twitter.com/svRvq0MukK

This became known connected societal media arsenic "The Look."

Fans marked clip arsenic everything that happened earlier "The Look" and everything that followed it. Namely that the Oilers won the adjacent 4 games against Dallas, outscoring the Stars 19-5, and past won Game 1 of the Final.

While the net bestowed gravitas to this little but smoldering gaze, McDavid said helium didn't callback the moment. But helium did corroborate that, implicit the years, helium and Draisaitl person developed immoderate benignant of telepathic communication.

"I deliberation we've decidedly developed a consciousness of knowing what the different one's reasoning successful immoderate fixed moment," helium said. "Sometimes, yeah, each it takes is simply a look to cognize what's going on."

The discourtesy created erstwhile McDavid and Draisaitl are connected the crystal does talk to thing other sensory betwixt them.

Heading into Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final connected Monday night, McDavid and Draisaitl person present factored connected the aforesaid extremity 73 times successful the playoffs. There are lone 3 duos successful NHL past that person factored successful connected the aforesaid extremity much often:

• Gretzky and Kurri (132)

• Anderson and Messier (86)

• Bossy and Bryan Trottier (85)

In 43 games implicit the past 2 postseasons, Edmonton has scored 21 goals with McDavid and Draisaitl connected the crystal astatine 5-on-5, a complaint of 4.4 goals per 60 minutes. When neither of them are connected the ice, the Oilers person a 2.03 goals per 60 minutes complaint astatine 5-on-5 successful their past 43 games -- though it should beryllium noted that this season's supporting formed has that complaint up to 2.71 goals per 60 successful the team's past 18 games.

This postseason, McDavid and Draisaitl person an expected goals complaint of 66.4%; erstwhile neither of them are connected the crystal astatine 5-on-5, the remainder of the Oilers gain 49.6% of the expected goals, according to Natural Stat Trick. When Messier and Gretzky were teammates, the Oilers seldom enactment them connected the aforesaid line.

"No, we played connected abstracted lines for the astir part. The powerfulness play, astatine times, but not each the time," Messier said. "I centered the 2nd line, and it was 1 of the reasons wherefore we became truthful hard to play against."

McDavid and Draisaitl person played 167:04 unneurotic astatine 5-on-5 successful 18 games, much than McDavid (158:43) and Draisaitl (150:06) person played distant from the other. Which is to accidental that manager Kris Knoblauch has not hesitated to unleash the "nuclear option" connected opponents this postseason, uniting his 2 violative wizards connected the aforesaid line.

"We've done it passim the playoffs, and they person conscionable gone disconnected and scored astatine a tremendous, tremendous rate," Knoblauch said.

But the manager said he's cognizant of the ripple effects caused by Draisaitl moving to McDavid's wing.

"Leon playing halfway conscionable spreads retired our scoring a small bit. It besides gets him successful the crippled a small spot more. He's skating and involved," Knoblauch said. "I deliberation it besides allows the remainder of our squad knowing that they've got a role, they've got to play good and we're not conscionable relying connected this 1 enactment that it's going to bash each the work."

Of course, the Oilers are much than blessed to trust connected McDavid and Draisaitl arsenic linemates connected the powerfulness play. In 43 games implicit the past 2 postseasons, Edmonton has scored 34 goals with some of them connected the crystal for a powerfulness play. The Oilers person scored conscionable erstwhile connected the powerfulness play without McDavid and Draisaitl connected the crystal implicit the past 2 postseasons.

Draisaitl has 22 vocation power-play goals successful 92 games, tying him for 29th each time. Only Hockey Hall of Fame winger Cam Neely (25 successful 93 games) had much goals having played less than 100 vocation postseason games. Draisaitl enters Game 3 needing 1 power-play extremity to necktie Gretzky (23) for the astir successful Oilers past -- and it took The Great One 120 games to amass that total.

Alex Ovechkin has the "Ovi Spot" connected the powerfulness play. Leon has "Drai Island": Draisaitl present has 73 power-play goals from the close ellipse connected a one-timer successful the regular play and the playoffs since the changeable was archetypal tracked successful 2016-17. The next-highest player? Tampa Bay Lightning prima Nikita Kucherov, mode backmost astatine 44 goals.

McDavid remains Draisaitl's biggest fan.

"You can't enactment a fig connected it. He's invaluable. There's truthful galore bully things helium does. You sanction it, helium does it. And helium doesn't get capable recognition for his antiaircraft abilities," McDavid said past week. "There's not galore -- possibly cipher -- better."

Draisaitl has 10 power-play goals implicit the past 2 Oilers playoff runs. McDavid had the superior assistance connected 7 of them. That includes his cross-ice provender to Draisaitl for the overtime victor successful Game 1 and that highlight-reel idiosyncratic effort to provender him for a extremity successful Game 2 erstwhile McDavid deked Aleksander Barkov and Aaron Ekblad retired of their respective skates:

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McDavid wizardry sets up Draisaitl for Oilers goal

The Oilers instrumentality the pb for the 2nd clip aft Connor McDavid's sensational assistance to Leon Draisaitl.

Those power-play helpers are 1 crushed McDavid has moved up the ranks of the astir multi-assist games successful NHL postseason history. Heading into Game 3, helium has 33 vocation multi-assist playoff games, the third-most down Oilers legends Gretzky (72) and Messier (40).

"They're the champion astatine astir each aspects of the game," Oilers winger Jeff Skinner said. "They are ascendant each night, and that gives them the assurance to support doing it."

Which is to accidental that opponents, specified arsenic the Panthers, tin lone anticipation to mitigate the harm that McDavid and Draisaitl volition inevitably do.

IN GAME 1 of the Stanley Cup Final, Florida iced the puck 21 times. Occasionally, it was its 4th enactment that was blameworthy of the infraction. When that would hap and the Panthers were forced to instrumentality a faceoff backmost successful their ain zone, Knoblauch wouldn't hesitate to enactment McDavid and Draisaitl retired determination unneurotic to prey connected them.

When that happened, Panthers fourth-line winger Jonah Gadjovich knew what to bash -- fto idiosyncratic other grip them arsenic rapidly arsenic possible.

"Play hard. Get disconnected the crystal arsenic speedy arsenic you can. Get the puck retired and get off. That's what we're trying to do," helium said.

Defending McDavid is hard. Defending McDavid and Draisaitl is terrifying, adjacent for Barkov, considered the champion antiaircraft guardant successful the NHL.

"You conscionable person to cognize that they're connected the ice. You person to beryllium alert of them each the times. You person to cognize a small spot of their tendencies arsenic well," said Barkov, a three-time victor of the Selke Trophy, including this season. "But astatine the aforesaid time, it's 5 guys connected ice. It's not conscionable one. So 5 guys request to cognize you request to cognize wherever they are and instrumentality the clip and abstraction distant from it."

That's thing Panthers defenseman Seth Jones echoed.

"When they play together, they're evidently precise originative players and they marque everyone astir them better. They similar to look for each other, particularly erstwhile they play together. Little give-and-goes, things similar that," helium said. "Whether they're playing unneurotic oregon apart, it's a five-man unit, defending holdups, small things similar that, conscionable being carnal connected them is going to assistance america astatine the extremity of the day."

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Draisaitl comes up large with OT victor successful Game 1

Leon Draisaitl nets the winning extremity precocious successful overtime to assistance the Oilers instrumentality Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final.

But the Panthers aren't playing the aforesaid McDavid and Draisaitl from past postseason. Both players were acold from 100% successful 2024, having played 13 playoff games successful the past 2 rounds earlier the Stanley Cup Final. This time, they're steadfast and rested, having played 10 games successful those rounds successful 2 consecutive five-game bid wins.

Both players person talked astir however the postseason travel successful 2024 changed them, successful peculiar with their intelligence attack to this season's Final. McDavid has talked astir being much "comfortable" than past time, with the 2nd clip astir feeling much normal.

Oilers guardant Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who has been a linemate for some McDavid and Draisaitl successful his career, praised their intelligence toughness.

"It speaks to their level of competitiveness, which is truthful awesome connected a day-to-day ground that it pushes you," helium said. "They're 2 of the astir talented players that we've astir apt ever seen successful the game, but determination has to beryllium much than that, and these guys person that. They're truthful competitive. They privation to triumph truthful bad."

The numbers surely backmost that up.