'Sucks For Him, Good For Us': NHL Stars Speak Out On McDavid's Suspension

Alex Ovechkin was blunt about Connor McDavid's three-game suspension.

"Sucks for him, good for us," he told reporters on Tuesday.

The Washington Capitals captain won't have to face McDavid on Tuesday night as they face the Edmonton Oilers. Ovechkin won't have to face Tyler Myers when the Caps face the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday either, as Myers and McDavid each received three-game suspensions for cross-checking.

Teammates of McDavid, however, had more to say about the captain now missing games after striking Canucks right winger Conor Garland after they wrestled each other in the final seconds of the rivalry matchup Saturday night, the Oilers trailing 3-2.

"Why aren't we protecting the superstars?" Oilers right winger Corey Perry asked when speaking to Sportsnet's Mark Spector. "Every other league does it. They protect their superstars. Patrick Mahomes, LeBron James... Go down the list.

"Sure they're going to take extra abuse. They're superstars. Connor knows that and he doesn't b---- and complain very often about it, so we'll do it for him."

Added Oilers center Leon Draisaitl: "I certainly think three games is a little too much, for either side. I guess we don't overly care about having our best players in the league in the game, so I'll leave it at that."

The Department of Player Safety noted Garland restrained McDavid in the play. It also said McDavid threw a gloved punch, and once they both stood up, McDavid turned around to face Garland, drew back his stick with both hands and intentionally struck him in the head with force.

"Connor doesn't want to tangle with Garland in that situation, and there's 12 seconds left," Draisaitl said. "We're looking to score, like we're not looking to tangle with anybody.

"I also know the game happens quick, and that's just – the refs aren't going to make the right call every single time. I understand that. But in that instance, I think that could have been avoided."

Former NHL defenseman P.K. Subban spoke out on McDavid's suspension as well.

"With 20 seconds left, you got to give Connor McDavid or any other player in his position the opportunity to play between the whistles," Subban said. "That's what people pay to see. They didn't pay to watch him get pinned down for 15 seconds and at the end of the game, end that way, and then get suspended. He's a human being, and he's got emotions and he reacts to it."

Subban also said Myers getting three games for cross-checking Oilers defenseman Evan Bouchard in the head happened because the referees didn't stop the play when McDavid was pinned.

This is McDavid's second suspension, having previously received a two-game ban for illegally checking New York Islanders D-man Nick Leddy in the head in 2019. It is also Myers' third suspension, his first since 2014. They received match penalties, which referees give when they believe a player intended to injure or did injure someone else. The history of supplemental history and the nature of the cross-checks factored into NHL Player Safety giving both players three games.

Nevertheless, what happened at the end of Saturday's game reignited the debate about obstructing star players, which Mario Lemieux and Bobby Hull spoke out about decades ago. Ken Campbell looked into that more for The Hockey News on Monday.

Related: McDavid And Garland Incident Proves Obstruction Is Still Alive And Well

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