Knoblauch fires back at DeBoer over McDavid comments.

Gamesmanship is always at its highest when it comes time for the Stanley Cup playoffs and in the Western Conference Final that gamesmanship has taken the shape of a war of words between the two head coaches on each side of this series.

On Friday night, Dallas Stars head coach Peter DeBoer called out both the National Hockey League and Edmonton Oilers star forward Connor McDavid in his response to a controversial incident involving Stars forward Roope Hintz and Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse. Long story short, DeBoer wasn't happy with the way that incident had been officiated and threw McDavid under the bus in the process by insinuating that the Oilers star forward receives special treatment from the league.

Of course those comments quickly made their way north of the border and on Saturday, Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch was asked about those very same comments from his counterpart. To the surprise of no one, Knoblauch balked at the claim that McDavid receives special treatment and argued that DeBoer's comments couldn't be any further from the truth.

Speaking with Oilers reporter Ryan Rishaug, Knoblauch expressed that he understood DeBoer's frustration but added that it was misplaced.

"Obviously after a game you're emotional especially when your player doesn't return," said Knoblauch as per TSN. "But to say that Connor McDavid gets special treatment... I haven't see Connor get that special treatment and probably the standard is higher for him."

Knoblauch came prepared for the question as he was armed with some facts to support his claim as well.

"I look at the power plays drawn through the playoffs this year and Connor has drawn 5," said Knoblauch. "The Dallas players they have 5 players with just as many, or more, power plays drawn than Connor McDavid. I find that hard to believe."

Knoblauch argued that, judging by what he has seen with his own two eyes during his tenure with the Oilers, the NHL has set a higher standard when it comes to McDavid drawing a penalty in order to avoid any perceived favoritism in that regard.

"I just see how many times he gets slashed and hooked throughout the regular season and playoffs, so I think the standard is actually against him just to say that he doesn't get any special treatment."

We definitely haven't heard the last from these two.