McDavid, Draisaitl to play on same line in Game 6 of Western 1st Round

EDMONTON -- With Connor McDavid not fully healthy and the Edmonton Oilers facing elimination, Kris Knoblauch is left with little choice but to go with his nuclear option in the Western Conference First Round against the Anaheim Ducks.

Playing Leon Draisaitl on the top line with McDavid, instead of centering the second line as usual, is a 5-on-5 tactic the Oilers coach employed for the first time in this series on the way to a 4-1 win in Game 5 at Rogers Place on Tuesday.

And it's likely not the last time Knoblauch will reach for his proverbial red button, either, as the Oilers will once again look to stave off elimination in Game 6 at Honda Center on Thursday (10 p.m. EST; HBO MAX, Victory+, truTV, TNT, KCOP-13, SN360, SN, TVAS, CBC), trailing the Ducks 3-2 in the best-of-7 series.

McDavid suffered an ankle injury colliding with teammate Mattias Ekholm in Game 2, and was listed as a game-time decision ahead of Game 5.

But the Oilers captain was able to play and assisted on each of Draisaitl's two goals in the game and also had four shots on goal and a plus-1 rating in 24:09 of ice time. 

It's all part of a strategy to lighten the load of McDavid, who Knoblauch says is not able to play to the fullest of abilities due to the injury.

"Absolutely, it would take a little bit of pressure off him having Leon have the puck a little bit more rather than Connor always having to generate by himself with the pucks. Obviously, he's got some pretty good support there with Leon being able to make plays, but also (Kasperi) Kapanen," Knoblauch said of his top forwards in Game 5. "Kapanen's been playing well too."

McDavid led the team and the League with 138 points (48 goals, 90 assists) in 82 regular-season games, while Draisaitl was second on team with 97 points (35 goals, 62 assists) in 65 games.

"McDavid and Draisaitl have always been good (together)," Knoblauch said. "This year, they have not been outscoring (the opposition) like they usually have. Just a lot of it maybe luck, or things just not going their way, whatever it is they just haven't been able to outscore.

"But there is definitely some chemistry, and going into an elimination game where we need to change our fate, we ultimately felt we were going to put the game in our two best players' hands and let them dictate where this game is going to go."

It went their way right away, with Edmonton taking a 3-0 lead in the first 10:13 in Game 5, which could provide the same blueprint for their plan of attack in Game 6.

But even within the top line, Knoblauch said there is strategy that can be employed to help take some of the load off McDavid's shoulders and not require him to drive the line himself quite as often and try and move him over to the wing.

"Obviously with Leon, Leon takes a lot of face-offs. Connor and him talk before going into face-offs who wants it," Knoblauch said. "Obviously if someone feels good about a draw, they've got success against somebody, they want to do something whether it's on their forehand, backhand side, so that takes a little bit of pressure off Connor."

But it's not just on offense where McDavid's efforts are needed. The load can be lifted somewhat within the Oilers' own blue line as well.

"Also with our systems on, especially defensive-zone coverage, when you come into the zone, typically the centerman takes those responsibilities," Knoblauch said. "But depending on the timing and who's coming into the zone, the wingers can take those responsibilities too.

"Just if it happens to be a centerman, they'd take over those responsibilities; now if you're playing with a centerman like Leon, Leon would stay down and take those jobs or responsibilities a little more often. So, Connor does move onto the wing. So, I think it lightens his load on that workage just playing with a guy like Leon too."