Whether it's RNH or Draisaitl on Oilers top line, McDavid can count on chemistry
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The Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers (optional) skated on Friday morning.
When the Edmonton Oilers won the draft lottery in 2015, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins didn't waste time making contact with the presumptive No. 1 pick.
"He was one of the first people to ever reach out from the organization," Connor McDavid recalled. "I think it was only a couple days after the draft lottery he sent me a text."
Nugent-Hopkins, the first overall pick in the 2011 draft, broke into a smile while sitting beside McDavid, now the Oilers captain and No. 1 centre, at the podium on Friday morning.
"I was confident we were taking him," Nugent-Hopkins quipped.
"I thought he was pulling my leg or something," McDavid continued. "I didn’t believe him at first."
It was a pinch-me moment for the entire Oilers franchise.
"It was definitely pretty wild," Nugent-Hopkins added. "Like everybody in Edmonton, we were pretty excited, to say the least, when that happened."
The relationship has only grown from there.
"Definitely means a lot," said McDavid of their connection. "Played 10 years together, been teammates for a long time, and been through it all together."
And they are now just three wins away from winning a Stanley Cup together.
Nugent-Hopkins, the longest-serving Oiler, returned to McDavid's left side at Friday's morning skate. The pair had been separated late in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final as the Oilers looked to dig out of a hole against the Florida Panthers.
Leon Draisaitl moved up to the top line with McDavid and Corey Perry as the Oilers erased a third-period deficit before winning in overtime.
"Get them the puck," Perry said with a laugh when asked about his mindset beside the two leading scorers in the playoffs. "Get out of the way. Go to the net. And then retrieve pucks. It’s pretty simple. But you always have to think how they think. They’re always a step ahead and thinking a play ahead. They see the ice so well."
Draisaitl, who was the third overall pick in the 2014 draft, scored the bookend goals in Edmonton's 4-3 victory on Wednesday. The overtime winner came on the power play courtesy an assist by McDavid.
"We’ve definitely developed a sense of understanding what the other one’s thinking at any given moment," McDavid said. "Sometimes all it takes is a look to know what’s going on."
But Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch prefers to keep the simpatico superstars apart to create more of a balanced lineup. And so Draisaitl was back between Evander Kane and Kasperi Kapanen on Friday morning.
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Kapanen set up Draisaitl's opening goal and finished Game 1 with a pair of helpers. His dad, Sami Kapanen, also had a two-assist performance in his first Stanley Cup Final game back in 2002 while with the Carolina Hurricanes.
"I saw that this morning that he had two assists, he had two shots like me, pretty much the same ice time and on the same day, which was a little spooky," the speedy winger said. "But pretty cool."
What did dad think of his son's effort?
"He was hyped," the 28-year-old Finn said. "He was super happy for me and for us. He’s excited to come here. We play on the 14th and that’s his birthday so it’s going to be a special time for him to come over, and my brother hasn’t been over for a long time too, so just to see those guys will just be an extra boost for me."
Game 5 of the series is scheduled for the elder Kapanen's birthday.
Back in 2002, the Hurricanes beat the Detroit Red Wings in overtime of Game 1 before losing four straight games. Kasperi is looking to change the family story in the Stanley Cup Final starting on Friday night.
Kasperi was picked up by the Oilers off waivers in November and started the playoffs as a healthy scratch before emerging into a key contributor.
"As a coach, especially at this time of year, two elements that are very, very important are speed and physicality and Kasperi delivers those two as good or better than anybody, and now the offensive ability," said Knoblauch. "He’s been bringing pretty much everything that we’ve asked of him and more."
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Panthers top-line winger Evan Rodrigues wore a big smile during the starting lineup announcement on Wednesday night even as the Edmonton fans rained boos down on the ice.
"Roddy seemed like he was enjoying it there," said winger Jonah Gadjovich. "It was electric ... Awesome hearing the boos for all our guys. It was hilarious."
"I did the same thing at home last year," Rodrigues pointed out. "You gotta enjoy the moment. You gotta enjoy where you are. You can’t be nervous of the moment. For me, whether it’s a boo or a cheer, just trying to stay in the moment and enjoy every second of it."
The Panthers are 8-3 on the road in this year's playoffs and have clinched all three of their series wins away from home.
"It's us against the 20-plus guys you're playing against, the 20,000 that are in the rink, the 20,000 that are outside the rink," said winger Matthew Tkachuk. "It's just us against everybody. That’s what makes playing on the road so fun and rewarding when you can get a win."
But the defending champions lacked some of their usual swagger in Game 1.
"We kind of punted the puck away a little bit too much and didn’t stay confident in our game and they just kind of turned it on against us," Rodrigues said.
As the Oilers stormed back in the game, the building only got louder.
"Amazing," said Oilers centre Adam Henrique. "It’s gotta be the No. 1 building in the league. The fans here are so passionate and they show that every game. It just gives you chills going out there every night."
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The Panthers blew a third-period lead in the playoffs for the first time since Paul Maurice took over behind the bench in the 2022-23 season.
The Oilers trailed 3-1 early in the second period.
"We all understand it’s never over with this group," said McDavid. "We can come back in those situations. We’re comfortable in those situations. As uncomfortable as it can be to be down, we got a belief if we keep doing our thing we can work our way back and crawl back into a game and we did that the other night."
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Maurice joked that Florida's Game 2 lineup is "top secret," before confirming there will be no changes.
"I was just going to say, ‘Game time,’ but, f—k it, I’m not changing anything," Maurice said.
Usually coaches are tight-lipped about their lineup in the playoffs.
A.J. Greer skated again on Friday morning, but the Panthers winger remains sidelined with a lower-body injury.
"He’s on track, but he won’t go tonight," Maurice said. "We think if he tracks out he’ll be available for Game 3."
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Fourth-line centre Tomas Nosek took a delay-of-game penalty in overtime, which led to Edmonton's winning goal.
"It was tough for sure," the 32-year-old from Czechia said. "Like, you don’t want to be the one guy who cost us the game, but obviously everybody can make a mistake. It happened at a bad time, in overtime, and cost us the game, but it’s in the past and looking forward to keep doing my job and focusing on today’s game."
Oilers defenceman Jake Walman got right in Nosek's face after he shot a puck over the glass late in the first overtime.
"No comments on that," Nosek said.
How did he get over what happened?
"Everybody’s making mistakes," he said. "It’s a part of the game. It’s a sport and you just focusing on this game and preparing yourself for it like every other game."
Nosek added that a good night's sleep offered a chance to reset. And his teammates rallied around him.
"They’ve been really helpful for sure," he said. "I like how they respond. Most of the guys came to me and say, ‘Don’t worry about it.’"
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Lines at Oilers skate:
Nugent-Hopkins - McDavid - Perry
Kane - Draisaitl - Kapanen
Frederic - Henrique - Brown
Podkolzin - Janmark - Arvidsson
Skinner, Ryan, Jones
Ekholm - Bouchard
Nurse - Kulak
Walman - Klingberg
Stecher, Emberson
Skinner starts
Pickard