Connor McDavid calls out Oilers top players before third round of playoffs

The Oilers captain called out the media for not believing in the team's defence already, but is keeping things fair and saying their powerplay needs to be much better.

The Oilers penalty kill has markedly improved for the postseason, but the powerplay hasn't been near its usual dominant level. The powerplay only clicked at 9.1% in the second round - a far decrease from their usual rate near 20%.

It's the top players in the powerplay that need to be better, including McDavid and Draisaitl. In fairness to the Oilers though, they've had the lowest share of powerplay time in the NHL Playoffs.

When the margins continue to get thinner in the playoffs, teams need to find success any way they can. Those two minute increments with a man advantage can be enough for the Oilers to take over a game.

If the Oilers stars can do their job and even raise their production from the second round, and their depth scoring continues to fire, they'll have great odds to punch their ticket back to the Stanley Cup Final.

It's great to see McDavid not shying away from calling out his team's top players and demanding more at the biggest time of the year. With this leadership, the Oilers will be able to go a long way.