A hush fell over the announced crowd of 16,587 at Rogers Place on Thursday night after Connor McDavid went down following a hit. Anaheim Ducks defenceman Drew Helleson had just shoulder-checked the Edmonton Oilers captain into the goal post after McDavid drove hard to the net, cut around Jackson Lacombe and fired a close-range shot on goalie Laurent Brossoit. The 29-year-old superstar got up after a few seconds, shaken but unhurt. As play remained stopped, he slowly skated toward Helleson, mouthing, “What the f___ was that?” The exchange sparked a scrum between Vasily Podkolzin and the Anaheim defender. The result: a fighting major, an instigator penalty and a game misconduct for the Oilers winger, and a two-minute unsportsmanlike conduct minor for Helleson. What the f___ was that, indeed. “The reaction was what it should have been,” Oilers head coach Mike Babcock said after the game. “I didn’t like the fact that you get an instigator on a thing when they’ve run your guy into the net, but that’s not up to the referees. That’s up to us to look after.” Rules and officiating aside, McDavid spent much of his post-game scrum discussing what he considers a dangerous type of play. “Those are plays that I’ve been really, really hurt on before, going into the end wall, going into the net,” No. 97 said. “Those types of plays I find dangerous.” He would know. McDavid’s trademark rushes to the net, weaving around defencemen at top speed, are a regular sight. Often, he makes experienced NHL blueliners look stationary. But there are times when those drives to the net are met with resistance, ending with McDavid being knocked down or driven into the boards, net or goal post. And, in a couple of notable cases, injured. Almost 11 years ago to the day, Philadelphia Flyers defenceman Brandon Manning drove McDavid into the end boards during a race for the puck, breaking the rookie’s collarbone. McDavid missed 37 games. Then there was the final game of the 2018-19 season, when Calgary Flames captain Mark Giordano slid to poke the puck away and took McDavid’s legs out from under him, sending him hard into the post. McDavid spent the summer rehabilitating his left knee. McDavid, however, said he does not expect “a free pass” from opponents. “He makes that decision; I make my decision,” he said. “If you’re going to hit me like that, then there’s going to be a response. That’s just the way it is. I wish that we treated the net like we treat the end wall. If I do that to him while going Mach 1 into the end wall, it’s a five-game suspension ... The net is just as dangerous, in my opinion, with the goalie there, the post there.”
