EDMONTON — Connor McDavid admitted that he's not proud of cross-checking an opponent on the face. But, the Edmonton Oilers captain and three-time Hart Trophy winner said that NHL officials need to be more consistent in the way that they call games.
McDavid spoke to the media Tuesday at Rogers Place, after serving the first of a three-game suspension for his cross-check on Canucks forward Conor Garland late in the third period of Saturday’s 3-2 loss in Vancouver.
Canucks defenceman Tyler Myers also got a three-game ban for delivering a similar blow to the face of Oiler Evan Bouchard during the ensuing melee.
The Oilers host the Canucks Thursday.
“I don’t necessarily agree with it,” McDavid said of the three-game ban. “I’m not saying that there shouldn’t have been any penalty of any suspension or anything like that… A little bit harsh but I understand their decision and got to move on.”
The Oilers pulled goalie Stuart Skinner late in the third period of Saturday’s game in an attempt to get the tying goal. The Oilers had possession in the Canucks zone, when Garland and McDavid became entangled in front of the net. Garland pinned McDavid to the ice, which not only immobilized a key scoring threat, but made it impossible for the Oilers to blast pucks from the point. Frustrated, McDavid rose and cross-checked Garland.
“I’m not really looking to engage with him,” McDavid said. “There was lots of holding, holding down, and he holds my head down for a little bit and stuff like that. But I can’t have that reaction. I know that. Everyone knows that.
“It’s not the reaction that I’m proud of or anyone wants to see out of me. I understand that. That being said, obviously, there are lots of infractions going on there. Maybe the whole thing’s avoided with a blow of the whistle or something like that.”
The McDavid-Garland incident rekindled the debate about how penalties are called in the NHL. Is a penalty in the first period still a penalty late in the third? Do superstars not get the benefit of the doubt when they try to force their way through holds, hooks and interference?
The Oilers are 27th in the league in drawing penalties this season, despite being one of the top puck-possession teams in the league.
“A penalty in the first is a penalty in the third,” said McDavid. “A penalty in October is a penalty in April. I think guys just want that standard, we want that consistency.”
McDavid said that in his hearing, he was told by league officials that he had a “history” of questionable hits. In 2019, McDavid received a two-game suspension for a high hit on New York Islander Nick Leddy. Last week, Marcus Johansson of the Minnesota Wild was injured in a collision with McDavid. The Oilers star said the hit was an accident, and he feels terrible about Johansson, who has yet to return to action.
“Obviously, I’m trying not to hurt guys,” McDavid said. “I’m thinking ‘how am I going to score, how am I going to make plays? How am I going to help the team win?’ It’s not ‘who am I going to elbow next?’”
McDavid’s absence was felt Tuesday in the Oilers’ 3-2 loss to the league-pacing Washington Capitals. The Oilers had a power-play in the final two minutes and pulled Skinner to make it a six-on-four. But, without McDavid zigzagging throughout the offensive zone, the Caps’ penalty killers were able to block shooting lanes and frustrate the Oilers.
Meanwhile, the Canucks lost 3-2 at home to the Buffalo Sabres, currently the Eastern Conference basement dwellers.
Canucks’ coach Rick Tocchet said he’d rather face the Oilers with McDavid in the lineup than without him.
“I don't want Connor McDavid to get suspended,” he said. “We're playing them. Honestly, you want to play the best. I mean, he’s terrific for our league. He's an unbelievable kid, from what I've been told, the way he works at his game, unreal for the game. It happened. So you deal with it. It's the same thing with [Myers].”
Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said he doesn’t expect Thursday’s game to get out of hand. Vancouver and Edmonton met in the previous season’s playoffs, a memorable seven-game series. While each game was emotional, Knoblauch said there was no carryover of bad blood from one game to the next.
“I don’t feel there was any extra energy or intensity after McDavid got the cross-check in the playoff game,” Knoblauch said. “I don’t think the next game was any more amped up than the previous games. So, I think this will be a game that’s always played the way it is when there are two rivals playing.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 22, 2025.
Steven Sandor, The Canadian Press