[Igottago]

McDavid is going down on that play before any stick makes contact with his skate. He is going in full tilt, at a crazy angle, its inevitable he won't be able to keep himself stabilized. He also knows 100% what he's doing. He knows the D are going to be careful about taking a penalty so he'll get a great chance to score, or the D will be forced to take a penalty, or it can be sold as such, by attempting to stop him. It's actually a somewhat smart play by him, but the refs knew what he was doing last night and correctly called the penalty on him. He is basically heading towards the crease like an out of control wrecking ball, knowing there's a strong likelihood he loses control and can crash into the goalie, but he can sell it as the opposition's fault.
The idea that the Flames or any other teams Dmen have to allow him to get to the net unimpeded is asinine. It's their job to hold their position and protect their net.