Rangers say they look forward to challenge of Oilers' Connor McDavid

When the Rangers played the Edmonton Oilers two months ago, they didn’t have to worry about defending Connor McDavid, who missed the game at Rogers Place with an upper-body injury. The Rangers won easily, 3-0.

On Friday night, it was a much different-looking Edmonton team that visited Madison Square Garden for the rematch, beginning with the fact that McDavid was healthy and in the lineup. The Oilers also had a different coach behind their bench, having replaced Jay Woodcroft with former Hartford Wolf Pack coach Kris Knoblauch.

And the Oilers, who were 1-5-1 after that Oct. 26 loss to the Rangers, entered Friday having won seven of their previous 10 games, including a 6-3 victory over the Devils in Newark on Thursday. McDavid started the comeback in that game, scoring early in the third period to tie it at 3-3 and kick off a four-goal run for Edmonton.

“I mean, he does it all,’’ Rangers defenseman Ryan Lindgren said. “I was watching the game [Thursday] night . . . The speed he plays the game at, the way he thinks the game, the passes he makes, you blink and he’s going to fly by you. So I mean, it’s tough playing against him, there’s no doubt.’’

Which is exactly why the Rangers defensemen were looking forward to playing against McDavid in their second-to-last game before the NHL’s Christmas break.

“He’s a really good player, a generational player, honestly. And it’s always fun playing against him,’’ K’Andre Miller said. “Honestly, I find it really fun. I find that matchup to always be a treat, and I find a lot of enjoyment in those matchups [against elite players] and trying to shut those guys down.’’

McDavid, who entered the game tied with the Rangers’ Artemi Panarin and Boston’s David Pastrnak for fourth in the league in scoring with 43 points, had six goals and 12 assists in 12 career games against the Rangers before Friday.

His most memorable goal against them was an electrifying, high-speed slalom run through four defenders before he beat goaltender Alexandar Georgiev for the goal that forced overtime in a 6-5 Oilers win in Edmonton in November 2021. That was the last goal he had scored against them. He was limited to three assists in two games last season.

According to Rangers coach Peter Laviolette, there may be small details a team might tweak when defending one of the league’s superstars, but the basic concepts of defending all elite players generally doesn’t change too much.

“I think it’s the same basic principles, just inside of our system, and the realization that you’re playing against a real good player,’’ Laviolette said. “We just go about our business and try to defend the opposition. And inside of the opposition, we talk about certain players and what they bring to the table, and things that you can do maybe to be a little bit better defensively. But not necessarily major shifts in the game and what we’re doing.’’

“You’ve got to manage your gaps as a defenseman,’’ Lindgren said. “When you see him flying, you can’t be too tight on him. We also don’t want to give him too much room, but the biggest thing [Laviolette] was talking about is just the way we handle the puck. [If we] start turning it over in the neutral zone, they start coming the other way, and that’s going to make it tough for us. You’ve just got to defend him hard, and when you get a chance to play the body, hit him and try to slow him down as much as you can.’’

By Colin Stephenson

colin.stephenson@newsday.comColinSNewsday

Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.