If you were understandably entranced by the jaw-dropping brilliance of Connor McDavid, it might have been easy to miss it in the magnitude of the moment.
In between McDavid putting Jacob Markstrom on a poster and his shimmy to shake Nikita Zadorov, Duncan Keith threaded a pass – through the wickets of Selke Trophy finalist Elias Lindholm – that only a few players on the planet could sew.
Newly named Chicago Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson spent hundreds of hours diligently tracking tens of thousands passes made in 2010 and beyond as a video analyst intern and that’s what stood out.
“Probably how amazing Duncan Keith is,” Davidson said recently on the DFO Rundown podcast. “Getting to watch him and getting to see him move the puck and transport the puck. I was tracking all of our passes, pass location, passing synergies. Even when I wasn’t tracking passes, just watching him defend. I haven’t seen as much hockey as some people, but he’s probably one of the best players I’ve ever seen.”
Keith, 38, turned back the clock a decade on Friday night with his first three-point night in the playoffs since the spring he captured the Conn Smythe in 2015. He became the third-oldest player ever to score three points in a postseason game.
More importantly, he steadied the Edmonton Oilers against an early blitz from the Calgary Flames, and made a slew of sublime defensive plays that served as pressure-relief valves against a relentless Flames forecheck.
McDavid may have stolen the eyeballs with another viral highlight, but Keith’s presence on the backend is a big reason why we have a series now with this best-of-seven Battle of Alberta rollercoaster even at one game apiece. Game 3 is on Sunday night in Edmonton.
Oilers GM Ken Holland was criticized for taking on the Keith’s full salary cap hit in a trade last June, but Game 2 proved the method to his madness.
That $5.38 million? Worth every penny in the playoffs, where Keith’s three Stanley Cup rings of experience can’t be bought.
“Just unfazed,” Zach Hyman said of Keith. “That’s a guy when you talk about somebody who has seen it all, done it all. He’s a future Hall of Famer that was brought in I think to calm the group in times that aren’t going well.”
They weren’t going well for the Oilers in Game 2, again, after an early onslaught from Calgary. The Flames jumped out to a 3-1 lead.
Edmonton settled in, made better decisions with the puck and escaped out of their own zone more cleanly – which allowed them to better control the play.
Part of that was the work of Keith, who picked up the slack for injured defenseman Darnell Nurse. If you watched closely enough, you could almost hear the adjectives Mike “Doc” Emrick would have used to describe him getting pucks moving while under pressure – "pitchforking" a pass to a partner or "squibbing" one up the wall to the forwards.
When it was gut-check time for the Oilers in the third period, tied in the final frame for the second game in a row, it was Keith who helped Edmonton keep calm with perhaps their season on the line.
“His personhood, or his presence, comes through in big moments,” Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft said. “Sometimes it’s something as simple as going by the bench during a TV timeout, saying ‘Hey, we got this. Take a deep breath. We’re good to go here.’
“Sometimes, it’s making a big play at the right moment. I can’t say enough about ‘Duncs.’ His resume is Hall of Fame worthy and he’ll be there one day. In terms of his ability to pass on his experiences to our group, you can’t say enough.”
McDavid said Keith has a “big, big voice in the room.” That wouldn’t surprise any of his former Blackhawks teammates that are etched next to him on Lord Stanley.
“I think he’s a big voice in that room in settling us down,” Hyman said. “Then obviously stepping up today. Huge goal, just making plays, being strong defensively, he’s got a lot to give.”
Game 2 was the perfect reminder of that. And that much as the Oilers wanted Keith for moments exactly like Friday, playing in that raucous seesaw Saddledome affair was why he waived his full no-move clause to come to Edmonton.
He saw the potential to chase a fourth Stanley Cup, to be in the battle again.
They’re in it, all right.
More must-reads: