Stephen A. Smith tears apart McDavid after embarrassing Edmonton Oilers loss
Connor McDavid has five points in the first three Stanley Cup Final games this season, but Stephen A. Smith isn’t impressed.
Game 3 was an absolute mess for the Oilers, as the Florida Panthers dominated the team, securing a 6-1 victory and a 2-1 series lead. Edmonton struggled to generate much offence and found themselves marching to the penalty box all night long. At the end of the game, the Oilers had given Florida 11 power plays and had five players ejected from the game.
McDavid failed to register a single point as the Panthers smothered the Oilers captain all night long. It’s hard to make an impact in every Stanley Cup Final game, even for the best players, but Smith was not giving McDavid the benefit of the doubt.
The bombastic NBA commentator ripped into the Oilers superstar on an ESPN segment alongside P.K. Subban.
“Connor McDavid, 13 shots, no goals, zero, nothing in the Stanley Cup?” Smith said. “This is a three-time league MVP, no championship, maybe the greatest that has never won.
“Here we are again, same opponent, same situation, same problem. When do you get to hold a superstar accountable, if not under these conditions?”
.@PKSubban1 and @stephenasmith disagree on how accountable Connor McDavid is for the Oilers' Game 3 loss.
"Thirteen shots. No goals. Zero, nothing, in the Stanley Cup? … When do you get to hold a superstar accountable, if not under these conditions?" pic.twitter.com/ssMNq8Ymfa
— First Take (@FirstTake) June 10, 2025
The Oilers seem to be drawing in quite a few NBA commentators on this playoff run. Both Charles Barkley and Shaq have been rooting for Edmonton to win the Stanley Cup, while Smith seems to have taken on a more adversarial role.
It’s hard to take his point seriously, however, as McDavid is tied for the series lead in points alongside teammate Evan Bouchard and Panthers Carter Verhaeghe and Nate Schmidt.
It might shock Oilers fans, but Subban was defending McDavid throughout the segment. The former NHL defenceman usually likes to take shots at Edmonton, but he was adamant that this loss was not on the Oilers’ superstars, but on the team as a whole.
“It wasn’t just about Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl not showing up on the scoresheet and not dominating the game,” Subban said. “The whole Edmonton Oilers team didn’t show up on time. Florida dominated them in every facet of the game.”
The narrative of this Stanley Cup Final is shifting in favour of the Panthers, but the Oilers are far from out of this. A win on Thursday means they head back to Edmonton with a chance to take a series lead.
It’ll be up to McDavid to make sure his team is in the right headspace before Game 4.