Connor McDavid has additional cemented his legacy within the NHL historical past books.
The famous person ahead scored a objective to document his 1,000th occupation level and arrange Darnell Nurse’s additional time winner for excellent measure as his Edmonton Oilers defeated the Nashville Predators 3-2 on Thursday.
The second the lovers have been looking ahead to got here when the groups had been enjoying 4 gamers in keeping with aspect 2:44 into the second one duration. Fittingly, it was once Leon Draisaitl who fed McDavid on a 2-on-1 ruin and he ripped a one-timer previous Predators goalie Scott Wedgewood for his 6th objective of the season and the 1,000th level of his occupation. McDavid has notched 9 issues in his closing 3 video games.
“It is a special moment. I said it the other day, this is legendary stuff,” stated Draisaitl, who has factored in on 446 of McDavid’s now 1,001 occupation issues. “To witness that and to be a part of it and to have seen him grow up from when he was 18 and we first met him, it is pretty cool, pretty amazing to be a part of.
“I’m very pleased with him, more than happy for him.”
Playing in his 659th game, McDavid became just the 99th player in NHL history to hit the magical 1,000 points plateau for his career. The Oilers captain became the fourth-fastest player ever to reach the milestone — trailing only Wayne Gretzky (424), Mario Lemieux (513) and Mike Bossy (656). At 27, he also became the fourth-youngest player ever to reach 1,000 points.
“Just seeing the best way the gamers reacted way the arena to me. It way the whole lot to me,” McDavid said. “To listen the lovers, that stuff way extra to me than any of the numbers. It was once a in reality particular second.
“These milestones are a great time to reflect and look back. It’s been a good 10 years and hopefully 10 more good ones.
“Some of these items have roughly hit me slightly extra emotionally than I might have concept.”
To put the 1,000-point milestone in perspective, McDavid did it in 98 fewer games than Sidney Crosby. The last player to reach 1,000 points was Toronto Maple Leafs forward John Tavares, doing so on Dec. 11, 2023, in his 1,109th game. It only took McDavid 58 games to go from 900 points to 1,000.
Of course, the question came out, can he possibly get to the 2,000-point mark in his career?
“If no longer him, who else? That is the one query I’ve,” Draisaitl said. “I by no means guess towards Connor McDavid. I’ve realized that during the last 10 years. It would not wonder me.”
Nurse had two goals and an assist and Draisaitl had a pair of assists for the Oilers (9-7-1), who have now earned at least a point in 16 of their last 17 games against Nashville, going 14-1-2 in that span.
It’s pretty cool to be out there and be a part of something that Connor did and worked so hard for,” Nurse stated. “As teammates, it’s amazing, it’s amazing what he does every night and it’s cool when he passes these milestones that he gets to celebrate for.”
Calvin Pickard made 21 saves between the pipes for the Oilers.
Michael McCarron and Cole Smith spoke back for the Predators (5-9-2), who’ve misplaced 5 in their closing six.
“I think the one point’s huge,” stated Smith, who scored with 2:38 left within the 3rd to sooner or later ship the sport to additional time. “I think we’ve got to try to start getting two points here now.
“Wedgey saved us in all of it evening, and that was once massive for us. To struggle again and get a minimum of one [point] is huge.”
Wedgewood made 31 stops in net for the Predators.
Here’s a look at some of the standout performances that got No. 97 to this point:
- Feb. 13, 2024 — McDavid had a career-high six assists as the Oilers thumped the Detroit Red Wings 8-4. McDavid reached the 600-assist milestone with his third helper of the night, but his fifth assist was one to remember. He spun to completely lose Wings defenceman Moritz Seider before feeding Evander Kane with a pinpoint pass that dominated the night’s highlight reel.
- Jan. 2, 2024 — McDavid surpassed the 900-point mark with a goal and four assists in Edmonton’s 5-2 victory over the visiting Philadelphia Flyers. His goal came on a dynamic end-to-end rush, with McDavid turning on the jets and blowing by the opposition before beating Flyers goalie Carter Hart.
- Nov. 18, 2021 — Twenty-eight seconds after the Winnipeg Jets took a 1-0 lead in a tight-checking game, McDavid equalized for the Oilers in dramatic fashion. With the PA system at Rogers Place still announcing Winnipeg’s goal, McDavid danced through three defenders before snapping the puck past star netminder Connor Hellebuyck. McDavid, who would go on to score in the shootout in a 2-1 Oilers victory, extended his point streak to 16 games with the goal.
- Jan. 6, 2020 — McDavid had a goal and three assists as the Oilers downed the Maple Leafs 6-4 in Toronto. McDavid, who grew up in the Greater Toronto Area, stunned the home crowd when he blew past Leafs defenceman Morgan Rielly and easily outmanoeuvred goaltender Frederik Andersen.
- Oct. 19, 2017 — McDavid showed his elite playmaking prowess in a 2-1 win at Chicago as he backed down the Blackhawks’ towering defensive pair of Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook before spinning around and backhanding a seeing-eye pass to Oilers forward Patrick Maroon for an easy tap-in. He also assisted on Mark Letestu’s overtime goal.
- Nov. 19, 2016 — McDavid might have called them “beautiful fortunate targets,” but his first career hat trick led the Oilers past the host Dallas Stars 5-2. Two of the goals were off rebounds and one was an attempted pass that deflected into the net, but McDavid ended a 10-game drought by showing he can score in dirty areas. “It’s a humorous league that approach,” he said after the game. “You get grade-A probabilities and they are no longer entering into, then you definitely get started placing it there and they’re going in.
- Feb. 2, 2016 — After a three-month layoff with a damaged clavicle, McDavid returned to the Oilers lineup with a vengeance in a 5-1 win over the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets. McDavid scored the winner when he cut up the Columbus defence and deked out goalie Joonas Korpisalo, then added a couple of assists for excellent measure.
- Oct. 13, 2015 — McDavid scored his first NHL objective in his 3rd sport, a 4-2 loss at Dallas. While the objective itself was once pedestrian through McDavid’s requirements — a shot tipped previous Stars netminder Kari Lehtonen — he gave a style of what was once to come back previous within the series through the use of his pace to get into the Stars’ zone and ship the puck into the nook.
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