EDMONTON — They may call him McJesus, but Connor McDavid doesn’t expect the seas to part every time he wants to take the puck to the net.

“I’m not expecting him to give me a free pass. He makes his decision, I make my decision, that’s just the way it is,” said McDavid after being driven into the goalpost by Anaheim defenceman Drew Helleson early in a thrilling 5-4 Ducks win. “You’re going to hit me like that and there’s going to be a response, that’s just the way it is.”

In this case, the response was twofold.

In-game, Vasily Podkolzin did what nearly every Canadian hockey fan deems appropriate when an opponent risks injury to your captain, the best player on your team — and in this case, the best player in the world.

Podkolzin beat the wheels off Helleson, coupling a bevy of rights with a passel of lefts. Given little choice but to defend himself, Helleson opted out.

Podkolzin politely declined to accept that decision, and was given an instigator and a game misconduct for his efforts.

“I’ve never seen that call before,” said McDavid.

“The instigation of the whole thing was when they run our guy into the net,” spat head coach Mike Babcock. “Is it within the rules to crosscheck the guy into the net? I thought it wasn’t.”

On the surface, this is the normal “we say, they say” of any hockey confrontation. It’s as partisan as a mother at the principal’s office, where little Johnny can do no wrong.

But this........

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