McDavid has not shown an extra gear in the playoffs. Things get tighter and he attempts to play the same way as in the regular season, and it doesn't work quite as well. He'll still get plenty of chances and look more or less like McDavid, and his normal set of gears is better than anyone else's normal set of gears.
But in the playoffs, some players find another level beyond their normal one. He doesn't seem to. So while in the regular season he's considerably better than everyone else (his "normal" vs. everyone else's "normal"), in the playoffs, the gap is a bit smaller (his "normal" vs. everyone else's "extra gear"), and that makes a massive difference to the results.
I do think there was some officiating shenanigans, but that's how the playoffs are. I wish they'd call the games consistently, but we all know they don't, so it's not like that's a big surprise. You have to push through it. Mackinnon seems to have that ability. Connor might develop it. After all, everyone said the same thing about Yzerman for about a decade before things changed for him.
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