It has been a hard road for McDavid and Draisaitl, cornerstones of a team that once was full of Hall of Famers like Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier, a team that once won the Stanley Cup five times in seven seasons (1983-90), a team that had fallen to the bottom of the NHL.
The Oilers selected Draisaitl with the No. 3 pick in the 2014 NHL Draft, then McDavid with the No. 1 pick of the 2015 NHL Draft. Each has won the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL's scoring champion -- Draisaitl once, McDavid three times. Each has won the Hart Trophy, which goes to the League's most valuable player as voted by the Professional Hockey Writers Association -- Draisaitl once, McDavid twice.
But until this season, the Oilers had won one round in the Stanley Cup Playoffs since their arrival, defeating the San Jose Sharks in the first round in 2017. McDavid said it has just made them hungrier and taught them lessons along the way.
"As you guys know, we've had a lot of down, down moments, a lot of moments where people were hard on us, we can't win," Draisaitl said. "And we haven't won yet. We're only halfway. But it feels good to take that next step for now. It feels good to see that we grow as a team, we grow as an organization."
McDavid led the NHL in scoring in the regular season with 123 points (44 goals, 79 assists) in 80 games. Draisaitl was fourth with 110 points (55 goals, 55 assists) in 80 games.
Now they are tied for the NHL playoff scoring lead, each with 26 points (seven goals, 19 assists) in 12 games.
In the first Battle of Alberta waged in the playoffs since 1991, McDavid had 12 points (three goals, nine assists) in five games. He felt he didn't have his legs Thursday, and he failed to register multiple points for the first time in eight games. Yet he scored the winner.
"He's everything to us," Draisaitl said. "He's our leader. He's our go-to guy. He's the guy that everyone looks up to when you need him, right? And he's done it all season. He's done it all his career."
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Draisaitl was even more impressive against Calgary. He had 17 points (two goals, 15 assists) in five games. The only other player in NHL history with 17 points through five games in a playoff series is Rick Middleton, who had five goals and 12 assists for the Boston Bruins against the Buffalo Sabres in 1983. Draisaitl had four assists Thursday and has had at least three points in five straight games, an NHL record.
"He was amazing, and that's all you can really say," McDavid said. "It's hard to put into words how amazing he was out there -- in every game. Every single game, he dominated from start to finish, and it was fun to watch tonight."
What's more amazing is that Draisaitl did it while playing through an ankle injury.
"I think he has the ability to hold people off and make plays in tight spaces, and I think he's the best passer in the National Hockey League -- the best passer in the world -- and the amount of plays he makes for our team is unbelievable," Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft said. "To do that with what he's doing through, he's an absolute warrior."
McDavid and Draisaitl aren't doing it alone. Evander Kane leads the playoffs with 12 goals. Zach Hyman has eight. Hyman scored six against the Flames and became the first Oilers player to score a goal in each of the first five games of a series. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, the No. 1 pick of the 2011 NHL Draft and the longest-serving player on the roster, scored twice in a 5-3 win in Game 4 on Tuesday. The list goes on. Finally, McDavid and Draisaitl have the support to make a deep playoff run.
But McDavid and Draisaitl are the unquestioned catalysts. It was fitting that it was they who finished the Flames, and this is something to savor before the next test begins against the Colorado Avalanche or St. Louis Blues.
"I think the Edmonton Oilers organization is a proud organization," Woodcroft said. "We're proud of our history. We're proud of the Hall of Fame people that have come through our organization. We're proud of the different runs that the team has gone on throughout the years.
"But our team wants to contribute to that type of history, and our team is looking to make its own mark. So, the emotion of that moment, I think, was an important moment for our team."
