The National Hockey League (NHL) season was one of the strongest offensives this year, and the playoffs continue the same way so far. Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, the two Edmonton Oilers superstars, are by far the biggest contributors to the stats column. That is, in the middle of the spring contest, one can draw some confusing conclusions when comparing their yields to the best in history.
Since the number of games played varies per player, the empirical measure for making comparisons is the number of points per game. In relation to this, McDavid and Draisaitl, with 26 points each in 12 games, are at 2.17, which is the 9th best performance in history.
Only four other players maintain better speed. Wayne Gretzky did it five times in addition to recording the best of all time, in 1985, averaging 2.61 points per game.
The other three were Darryl Sittler, in 1977, with 21 points in 9 games (2.33), Dennis Maruk, in 1986, with 13 points in 5 games (2.66), and Mario Lemieux, 34 points in 15 games ( 2.26) in 1992.
Notice that Sittler and Maruk have played less than 10 games.
In fact, two years ago, in 2019-20, McDavid maintained a comparable score per game average, at 2.25, but in just four games. Less impressive when fewer games are played.
The first-round series that pitched the Oilers against the Los Angeles Kings earned McDavid the 18th consecutive franchise history, 14 in 7 games. The speed maintained in the second round against the Flames was slightly higher: 12 to 5.
Draisaitl exploded with 17 points in 5 games against the Flames, the fourth total in history in a series, averaging 3.4 per game.
Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl each had 26 points. The highest amount a player raised in the playoffs was 47, by a Wayne Gretzky, in 1985.
He achieved success in 18 games, two more of the lowest possible in the current format. For the record, the first round was played in three of five format at the time.
If, hypothetically, the Oilers don’t lose a game from the third round until they win the Stanley Cup, they will play 20 games. And if they maintain their pace, with an average of 2.17 points per game, multiplied by 20 games, they will end the tournament with 43 points. It will only take a few high defeats for the Oilers to seriously consider getting the record from Gretzky, one might think.
Aside from the projections, McDavid and Draisaitl’s performances have so far surpassed some of the show’s marks. Both had more points than the series top scorer in 2019 (Brad Marchand, 23 points in 24 games), 2012 (Anze Kopitar, 20 points in 20 games) and 2015 (Patrick Kane, 23 points in 23 games). ).
They are also tied with two other series scoring champions: David Krejci (26 points in 22 games in 2013) and Anze Kopitar (26 points in 26 games in 2014).
And the third round hasn’t started yet!
Source: Radio-Canada
