After yesterday’s 7-3 drubbing of the Oilers, Edmonton captain Connor McDavid had this to say about the 2024-25 Capitals:
“They come at you in waves, wave after wave. They’ve got four lines and six [defensemen], and they just roll them. They’re an impressive group; obviously they’re having a great year. Is there a way to play against that? Push back, I don’t know. It was just not good.”
Ovechkin, Caps Overwhelm Oilers, 7-3
If Connor sounds a wee bit frustrated after that game, it’s because he probably was, thanks to spending most of his even-strength time going head to head with one Pierre-Luc Dubois…and losing. In fact, Dubois did such a masterful job on the three-time MVP that Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch scrambled his lines multiple times to try and free McDavid, putting him with at least eight different wingers.
Dubois spent 14 minutes on the ice yesterday at even strength, with 11:30 of that against McDavid, and came out on top in CF% (73.7), SF% (83.3), SCF% (66.7) and xGF% (76.6) while his team outscored the Oilers 1-0. McDavid finished the day a -3 with no shots on goal, picking up just a secondary assist on Leon Draisaitl’s power play goal in the first period. That’s a very bad day for #97.
For some context on just how bad, here’s a look at all of McDavid’s xGF% by game going all the way back to 2022. That red line, second from the end there? Yeah, that’s yesterday:
Needless to say, Dubois did his job and then some (and his linemates, Connor McMichael and Tom Wilson deserve some credit here, as well).
His performance against the Oilers just continues to show that the offensive upside he provides (an area in which he’s met if not exceeded expectations) also came with a less-known ability to be a stellar shutdown center when called upon. And that makes the Caps that much more dangerous going forward.