Rangers face tall task stopping Oilers' Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl

GREENBURGH — Rangers fans who dreamed of their team signing Connor McDavid as a free agent next summer had those dreams dashed when McDavid signed a contract extension with the Edmonton Oilers last week.

So when McDavid and the Oilers visited Madison Square Garden Tuesday, the Rangers weren’t looking at No. 97 as a potential future teammate — just as a guy who was going to be more than a handful to try and stop.

“You’ve just got to respect his skill, his speed,’’ said defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov, who played against McDavid plenty of times in both the regular season and playoffs when he was in the Western Conference with the L.A. Kings, at the Rangers’ morning skate Tuesday. “He can react quick, and he can strike quick, so we’ve got to be ready for that. And obviously, be aware where is he on the ice. And Leon [Draisaitl] the same way. He can shoot from anywhere, and you’ve just got to know where exactly he is.’’

J.T. Miller played against McDavid a ton, too, when he was in Vancouver, and he said he always relishes the challenge of going up against the best player in the world.

“It's just all about the vulnerable areas, and impeding his progress,’’ Miller said of the keys to defending McDavid. “If he doesn’t have to stop, you're going to pay for it every time. Not once in a while, every single time.

“So when he doesn't have the puck, you have to impede his progress,’’ he continued. “If it's easy on guys like him, he's going to have his way with us. So you got to make sure that we're making him do it the hard way . . . you can't give him any easy ones.’’

What always makes the Oilers even more difficult to defend is the fact that McDavid isn’t the only superstar they have on the roster. Draisaitl is also on the short list of top players in the world, and Edmonton always has the option to play those two on the same forward line at times, or split them up and have two No. 1 lines.

“Obviously, they're dangerous when they're together,’’ Rangers coach Mike Sullivan said of McDavid and Draisaitl. “The downside of that is they lose a little bit of balance in their lineup. And so, as an opponent, you can try to key on one line, as opposed to two, for example — whether it be [matching them against] defense pairs, or line combinations, whatever it may be.

“I'm sure their coaching staff is always weighing that decision, just like the rest of us do with our lineups. Do you load the top six, or do you balance your team out and pose more of a threat that way? And I don't know if there's any right or wrong answer. I think it's just about knowing your team and where your team is at, and trying to make the best decision.’’

Gavrikov, whom the Rangers signed as a free agent this summer to improve their defense corps and to be a partner to No. 1 defenseman Adam Fox on a true top pair, figured to match up a lot against McDavid.

Through the Rangers’ first four games, though, the partnership of Gavrikov and Fox remains “a work in progress,’’ according to Sullivan.

“I think there's still a feeling-out process there, but I do think it's improving,’’ Sullivan said.

“Well, he almost scored a hat trick [against Pittsburgh Saturday],’’ Gavrikov joked when asked about his chemistry with Fox. “So I guess he's good with me.’’

According to Natural Stat Trick, though, the overall numbers haven’t been great: Entering Tuesday, they had played 58 minutes and 57 seconds together at 5-on-5 and shot attempts (49-62), shots on goal (25-32) and goals (0-1) were all tilted in favor of the Rangers' opponents.

Blue notes

With Vincent Trocheck still out and D Carson Soucy on IR, Sullivan stayed with the same lineup that lost to Washington, 1-0, on Sunday, meaning Juuso Parssinen and D Connor Mackey were the scratches . . . Miller was asked about the Rangers not scoring a goal in either of their first two home games. “We just got to keep doing the right things, and goals will come,’’ he said.

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.