Comparing McDavid and Matthews; why the Leafs are succeeding and the Oilers are not

Matthews has grown into one of the best two-way players in the league and is able to contribute defensively when going through the peaks and valleys of a season offensively. McDavid, on the other hand, still struggles defensively and it can be seen by the number of times the Oilers have been scored on early in games, and in general.

At 5-on-5, Matthews has 22 points while McDavid has 20. The term "power play merchant" is often used to describe McDavid and linemate Leon Draisaitl as a joke, but even jokes can be rooted in truth. Additionally, Matthews is even in giveaways and takeaways while McDavid has shows a -11 differential. Matthews has been able change his game year after year and has added more tools to it to help the Leafs in a variety of ways. He knows he has to be a two-way player, while McDavid has yet to learn that and continues to attempt to outscore the issues.

Points wise, Matthews is off to a much slower start than his normal expected level of production, but he has been much better of late. His better production has not come at the cost of his defensive play however. He has shown he is willing to do the little things like making and taking hits to make plays and block shots as he is on pace to set career highs in both, whereas McDavid has just 16 blocks through 33 games. Considering how much McDavid plays and the fact he is so fast, you'd think he would be able to get in the shooting lanes more.

Neither kill penalties, but you do see Matthews on the ice more in the final minutes defending leads, where the Oilers prefer to send out Leon Draisaitl as he is more dependable defensively. McDavid is the best player in the league, but he has a ways to go in developing his two-way game in order to help the Oilers in more ways than offense.

In the end, when you look at where these two teams sit in the standings, there are a variety of things that you can look at and declare as the main reasons why - and I'm sure goaltending is one of them - but quality play on both sides of the puck is a major factor and when you consider the fact that the Atlantic Division is much more problematic than the Pacific Division, perhaps if the Oilers committed more on the defensive side of the puck, forwards included, they'd be sitting in a much better position as we approach the midway point of the season.