A total of 602 games: That's what it took for Connor McDavid to reach the plateau of 900 points in the National Hockey League (NHL), which allows him to compare favorably with several legends of the scene.
In fact, the Edmonton Oilers captain is the fifth fastest to do so. Wayne Gretzky (385 games) and Mario Lemieux (463) are true unicorns in this category, but McDavid has a similar performance to Mike Bossy (582) and Peter Stastny (599).
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The Ontario native scored his 10th five-point game of his career on Tuesday night against the Philadelphia Flyers, increasing his point total to 903 points. The 26-year-old obviously only had his team's 5-2 victory in mind, their sixth in a row.
“It's another interesting step, an opportunity to reflect on the work that has been done,” McDavid initially mentioned in the press interview before branching off. It's a team that works hard and doesn't give much away. They defended really well, but we didn't give up. I found this Stuart [Skinner] made some excellent saves. We found ways to score and it was a great win.”
The humbleness of the NHL's brightest star surprises no one. You have to look to your teammates for praise.
“To him it’s just another number; He's just happy to have won since he knows him. He is a generational talent. “It’s pretty special in the era we play in to see him in the same category as these guys,” said his linemate Zach Hyman.
“I don’t think anyone in recent history has come close to that. “It’s pretty amazing and special to have the opportunity to play with him,” the former Toronto Maple Leafs added.
The click
However, McDavid had some struggles early in the campaign, even falling below the points-per-game mark, which was far from his standards. A bit like when Martin St-Louis managed to revive Cole Caufield upon his arrival in Montreal in 2021-2022, the turnaround exploded as soon as Kris Knoblauch was put at the helm of the Oilers.
Since being hired on Nov. 13, McDavid has only been left off the scoresheet twice. During this time he collected 43 points in 22 games.
“It looked pretty easy to him. It was beautiful to watch him fly around the ice and make incredible plays all night long. I can't believe he just made it [16 min 35 s] the playing time,” analyzed the head coach, who is just starting to get used to his protégé’s pace.
“It's remarkable what he's done, but it never surprises me. I'm past that phase where he surprises me because he does so much. I just like to enjoy it,” Knoblauch said.
The Oilers continue to climb the table and have moved to fourth place in the Pacific Division. They face the Ottawa Senators on Saturday.