One of the greatest seasons in NHL history reached new heights Saturday night at Rogers Place as Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid had four points in a 4-3 win over the Vancouver Canucks.
It gives McDavid 100 points in his 53rd game of the year.
“To see my teammates’ reaction was really special and means the world to me,” McDavid said.
LISTEN BELOW: Connor McDavid
“It’s a very special night, mostly for him, of course, but for us as his teammates too, to be a part of it,” Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl said. “You could sense early on he had his legs and he obviously wanted to do it on Saturday night. Hockey Night in Canada.”
LISTEN BELOW: Leon Draisaitl
McDavid went to work early, firing a shot through Thatcher Demko only 47 seconds into the game.
“It solidifies that he is one of the top players to ever play the game,” Oilers head coach Dave Tippett said.
“This is a player that gets checked harder than any other player in the league,” Tippett said. “I guarantee you every team in the league comes in here and talks about how they’re going to check him and keep him off the board, and he still does what he does.”
LISTEN BELOW: Dave Tippett
In the second, McDavid stormed down the right wing and set up Jesse Puljujarvi for his 15th of the season. With the game tied at two, McDavid fed Draisaitl for a power play goal. It was Draisaitl’s 500th career point.
“Obviously I’m proud of it, no question,” Draisaitl said. “But I’m planning on playing a few more years and I think the fun years are still ahead here in Edmonton, so I’m just fortunate and happy to be part of it and I’m excited for the next couple years.”
The Oilers went on a two-man advantage after the Canucks tied it 3-3. McDavid slid a pass across to Draisaitl, who ripped in a one-timer to give McDavid his 100th point of the season.
“Honestly, it’s just impressive. I don’t think my English is good enough to find another word for it right now,” Draisaitl said of his captain.
“Thankfully, I didn’t have to wait too long to get there and like I said before, to see the reaction of (Draisaitl) and (Nurse), I can’t explain what that means,” McDavid said.
“It speaks to the respect that he has from the other players with his leadership and how hard he works, but it also speaks to (the fact that) the players are appreciative of what he does for our team,” Tippett said.
The third period was scoreless.
J.T. Miller, Travis Boyd and Tyler Graovac scored for the Canucks.
Adam Larsson played in his 600th career game. Mike Smith made 22 saves for his 20th win of the season.
“That’s a hard, hard 600 games,” Draisaitl said. “I don’t think I’ve ever played with a guy that plays that hard consistently, every single night.”
The Oilers, 33-18-2, will play in Montreal on Monday.
With files from 630 CHED’s Brenden Escott