Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl lose beer league game in Newmarket

Usually it would take the Florida Panthers to defeat the likes of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. This time, all it took was a beer league team.

The two Edmonton Oilers’ superstars, coming off their second consecutive Stanley Cup Final appearance, took the ice for a beer league game at the Magna Centre in Newmarket, Ont., McDavid’s hometown.

According to a video from BarDown, the two didn’t score and their team lost 6-2, but those on the ice and fans in the stands, many of them children, had a great time.

BarDown interviewed the referees after the games and asked what it was like to officiate a game with two Hart Trophy winners.

“Honestly, it’s incredible to see them coming down the ice,” one official said. “It’s nothing like you’ve ever seen.”

“Just really cool to be on the ice with them, kind of starstruck at the end of the day,” the other said.

When asked if they were shocked if the pair wasn’t able to score, one referee gave all the credit to the opposing goaltender.

“That goalie stood on his head out there, so … not too shocked, actually,” one official said.

Last season, Draisaitl led the Oilers with 52 goals and 106 points, while McDavid led the way with 74 assists, finishing with 100 points.

In 21 combined seasons, McDavid and Draisaitl have combined for 760 goals and 1,278 assists for 2,038 points in 1,502 career regular-season games. In 192 career Stanley Cup Playoff contests, the two have 96 goals and 195 assists for 291 points.

They have also won the Art Ross Trophy six times, the Hart Trophy four times, the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy twice and the Ted Lindsay Award five times.

On the same night, two-time NHL All-Star and Stanley Cup champion Evgeny Kuznetsov took the ice for a beer league game of his own at the MedStar Capitals Iceplex in Arlington County, Va., the Washington Capitals practice facility.

“It’s unclear how or why he ended up playing,” Josh Williams, one of the game’s goalies, said to Capitals’ fan blog Russian Machine Never Breaks (RMNB). “Like we don’t know his connection to the Moose or if he knew anybody on that team.”

In 743 career NHL games, Kuznetsov scored 173 goals and 402 assists for 575 points with the Washington Capitals and Carolina Hurricanes. His best season came in 2017-18, scoring 27 goals and adding 56 assists for 83 points. In the playoffs, he recorded 12 goals and 20 assists for 32 points in 24 games, helping the Capitals win the Stanley Cup.