The Edmonton Oilers are going to the Stanley Cup Finals, and Connor McDavid is playing the best hockey of his career.
Widely acknowledged as the best player on earth, McDavid has been phenomenal this playoffs, and when his team needed him the most, he scored one of the best goals of his career.
McDavid has had plenty of highlight reel goals, but never this deep in a playoff run, and never against such a high-quality opponent like the Dallas Stars, in a Conference Final.
McDavid dangled past Sam Steel at the bottom of the face-off circle before he completed a ridiculous toe-drag around Miro Heiskanen.
McDavid finished his stunning individual show off with a backhand past goalie Jake Oettinger to give the Oilers a lead they would never give up.
McDavid is going to the Finals for the first time, and the goal that sent the Oilers there will never be forgotten.
But one person in the arena wasn’t impressed. When Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid entered the podium for their post-game press conference, the German superstars were asked about McDavid’s goal, and what he had to say had everyone in the room laughing.
”Yeah it was nice,” Draisaitl began. ”Seen it before, but nice.”
But after the laughs had dialed down, he turned serious, expressing enormous respect for his captain.
”There’s one player in the world who can make plays like that, and things like that happen.
”I don’t know what to say. He knows what I think of him.”
