It’s not too often we can say that Connor McDavid just “didn’t have it.”

We’ll hear soon about the injuries he was fighting through against the Anaheim Ducks in full detail, but with a team-worst -8 in the series, and with the Edmonton Oilers falling to the Ducks in six games for their first first-round exit since 2021, it’s fair to say the Oilers’ captain simply didn’t have it.

According to Natural Stat Trick, McDavid was on the wrong side of the five-on-five numbers against Anaheim, posting a 46.67 CF%, a 47.38 xGF%, a 3–7 goal share in favour of the Ducks, and being outshot 40–55 and outchanced 35–46.

Moreover, throughout the series, there was talk about how much Ducks blueliner Jackson Lacombe shut down McDavid.

There were moments where you thought the regular-season points leader was going to break through the Ducks’ D-corps off the rush, but it always seemed like there was a last line of defence in Lacombe, with the Ducks defenceman keeping pace with McDavid, and then either erasing him into the boards or swatting the puck away, most of the time.

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"Pure wizardry"- @BizNasty2point0 This defensive play by Jackson Lacombe on McDavid was FILTHY

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5:05 AM · Apr 25, 2026

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The metrics also align with the eye test, as with Lacombe on the ice against McDavid at five-on-five, the shot share was 42–19 in favour of the Ducks, with the Oilers being outscored 6–2 as well. Still, McDavid did register six points in six games, which is nothing to take lightly, but for him, those are rather human-like numbers.

Fatigue and potential injury likely played the biggest role in McDavid’s struggles vs. Ducks

As many Oilers fans have watched McDavid produce out-of-this-world, highlight-reel moments his entire career, it’s tough to see the Oilers’ captain look “human.” On one hand, you could point to father time, even at age 29, starting to........

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