https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JD1SkpBTMu4
Post game Babcock, 8 seconds into the interview: "McDavid played 8 minutes and 15 seconds in the first period. So that helped us too, cuz that's alot of minutes, I don't care who you are. And that helped us, cuz Naz had only played 5, so that allowed him to be alot fresher.."
Reporter: "So you think McDavid tired out, is that what you're saying?"
Babcock: "Well you jam a guy out there, every shift, and like 3 in a row (with a big grin on his face), hard to have the same pop man"
So that's obviously shots fired at his former right hand man.
Maybe Todd is playing him too much for a 19 yr old, that hasn't even reached 60 NHL games yet. Maybe putting him up against the best every night 5 on 5, anchoring the PP, manning the PK, AND leading an NHL team is too much to put on the kid.
I see everyone saying how bad McDavid was last night. So sad.
Just simply credit goes to Toronto for stopping him by committee. The Oilers did not respond to the shut down of Connor last night. When teams use that strategy, it's up to the rest of the team to take advantage of that space and capitalize. The loss is on his linemates and the coaching staff tonight.
I love Todd, but he needs to really look at the lines, and not go by what the public demands. When Lucic signed, everyone was saying Lucic-Connor-Eberle! That's the line that will dominate the league. Then Todd made that line the #1 line right away, no tweeking, no real analysis or experimenting with other players. Lucic's purpose was to protect McDavid. Nazem freaking Kadri tossed McDavid around last night. What more a Getzlaf, Kopitar, Thornton, Benn. The Lucic of old is no more. He'll get in there, mean face, face wash, and a rare fight. But an AHL call up could do the exact same thing. And Eberle is just not on the same page as McDavid. Eberle/Nuge will benefit both of them in so many ways.
McDavid could be so damn much more, Todd has no idea what he has if paired with the right wingers. I hope we see a different #1 line on Thursday.