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What McDavid said about 'dangerous' hit that sparked feisty Oilers-Ducks game

Preston Hodgkinson
Preston Hodgkinson
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Nov 6 2026, 1:00 pm
What McDavid said about 'dangerous' hit that sparked feisty Oilers-Ducks game
Perry Nelson/Imagn Images

Connor McDavid was not happy after Thursday’s 5-4 loss to the Anaheim Ducks.

The Oilers captain notched four points in the Edmonton Oilers defeat, yet all the questions he faced postgame revolved around a play that happened early in the first period. It was your typical McDavid rush that saw him make a break toward the net only to be stopped by Ducks goaltender Laurent Broissoit.

However, Anaheim defender Drew Helleson took liberties during McDavid’s rush to the crease, landing a hit on the Oilers captain that launched him dangerously into the net and end boards. A hush came over the Rogers Place crowd as McDavid was slow to get up, but when he got back on his feet, the fireworks began.

It was obvious that the Oilers captain was not a fan of the play, chirping at Helleson, and Vasily Podkolzin quickly took exception with the young Ducks defenceman, instigating a fight that led to the Russian being assessed a five-minute major and a game misconduct.

That one play set the mood for what was a feisty matchup between the Pacific Division rivals, and McDavid wasn’t afraid to let reporters know what he thought of the play after the game.

“Those types of plays I find to be dangerous, and obviously I didn’t love it,” McDavid said. “Those are the plays that have really, really hurt me… When you’re going Mach 1 into the end wall or into the net, those are dangerous plays in my opinion.

“I think people peg me as some sort of robot, but I got feelings and emotions too. When that comes out, it can rattle a game up… I wish that we treated the net like we treat the end wall. If I do that to him, going Mach 1 into the end wall, it’s a five-game suspension and everything. The net is just as dangerous, in my opinion, with the goalie there and the post there. It’s just as dangerous.”

McDavid has faced two major injuries in his career on similar plays throughout his career. The first was a broken collarbone during his rookie season, and the other was a severe leg injury after being tripped by Calgary Flames defender Mark Giordano during the 2018-19 season.

There was broad disagreement from the Oilers about the harsh discipline doled out to Podkolzin on the play. Oilers coach Mike Babcock argued postgame that the instigating moment in the situation was on Helleson for taking a run at McDavid, but the referees obviously disagreed.

The ref who announced the penalty actually called the incident a “one-man fight” and stated that the five-minute major was for instigating.

“I’ve never seen that call before,” McDavid said. “I appreciated the response from Podzy. I thought it was an unfortunate call. Didn’t really like the call one bit. It is what it is.

“Podzy’s always been that guy for us. He’s always responded, and guys love him for it. He’s loved in our room.”

An emotional first period led to another fight between Kasperi Kapanen and Pavel Mintyukov and a total of 28 PIMS against Edmonton in the first 20 minutes of play. The Oilers would go on to log 36 PIMS across the entire game.

All those penalties made it difficult for the Oilers to generate much momentum five-on-five.

“It was a weird game,” McDavid said. “A lot of power play, a lot of five-on-five. I thought our penalty kill did a really good job against a real good power play.”

Leon Draisaitl and Kasperi Kapanen scored goals late in regulation to make things interesting, but Edmonton ultimately couldn’t come up with the equalizer. The loss puts their record at 11-3-3, which is still good enough to be tied for second in the NHL and is just three points behind the league-leading Carolina Hurricanes.

McDavid is now up to an astounding 44 points through 17 games, while teammates Draisaitl (31) and Evan Bouchard (30) are the only other NHL players to have hit the 30-point mark.

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