By the Numbers: McDavid, Draisaitl unlikely to be kept quiet again
Published
The Vegas Golden Knights took a 2-1 lead in their series against the Edmonton Oilers with a commanding 5-1 victory in Game 3 on Monday in which they shut out both of Edmonton's stars - a feat which, history shows, is unlikely to be repeated.
Since being drafted by the Oilers, Leon Draisaitl (third overall, 2014 NHL Draft) and Connor McDavid (first overall, 2015 NHL Draft) have played in 46 Stanley Cup Playoffs games together.
In those games, the pair have been held off the scoresheet just nine times, and only five times in 33 games since their first trip to the postseason in 2017.
Their consistency in the post-season places them in elite territory:
NHL All-Time Playoff Point per Game leaders
| Rk | Name | GP | G | A | P | P/GP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wayne Gretzky | 208 | 122 | 260 | 382 | 1.837 |
| 2 | Leon Draisaitl | 46 | 31 | 45 | 76 | 1.652 |
| 3 | Mario Lemieux | 107 | 76 | 96 | 172 | 1.607 |
| 4 | Barry Pederson | 34 | 22 | 30 | 52 | 1.529 |
| 5 | Connor McDavid | 46 | 26 | 44 | 70 | 1.522 |
| 6 | Nathan MacKinnon | 77 | 44 | 56 | 100 | 1.299 |
| 7 | Mark Messier | 236 | 109 | 186 | 295 | 1.250 |
| 8 | Bobby Orr | 74 | 26 | 66 | 92 | 1.243 |
| 9 | Mikko Rantanen | 70 | 30 | 57 | 87 | 1.243 |
| 10 | Mike Bossy | 129 | 85 | 75 | 160 | 1.240 |
Among the top 10 in all-time playoff points per game leaders, five are members of the Hockey Hall of Fame, while four of them (Draisaitl, McDavid, MacKinnon, Rantanen) are still active.
McDavid (five goals, 10 assists) and Draisaitl (13 goals, four assists) were unstoppable in the first eight games of this year's playoffs as they combined for 32 points - four points per game for the pair.
But Monday's loss continued a trend that has followed the two stars throughout their playoff careers - Edmonton's offence struggles to produce without them, and the team struggles to find other answers in the lineup.
Stop the stars, stop the Oilers?
| Draisaitl or McDavid: | Register a point | Held pointless |
|---|---|---|
| Games | 37 | 9 |
| Oilers average goals per game | 4.21 | 0.66 |
| Team Record | 19-18 | 2-7 |
The Oilers have scored more than one goal just once when Draisaitl and McDavid both failed to register on the scoresheet - a 2-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks in the 2016-17 playoffs.
In their 46 playoffs games together, the pairing has only been held scoreless in consecutive games on one occasion - Games 3 and 4 of the first round against the San Jose Sharks in 2016-17, their third and fourth playoff games together of their careers.
Each player has 24 career points against the Golden Knights and average more than a point a game, so there isn't a track record of difficulty against the team.
Puck drop for Game 4 of the second-round series is scheduled for Wednesday night as Edmonton looks to even it up at home.