Connor McDavid keeps rewriting the same record. His secondary assist on Evan Bouchard’s second-period power-play goal in Sunday’s 4-1 win over the New York Rangers extended his NHL-record season-opening assist streak to 15 games, and it made him the fastest player in league history to 30 assists, beating Wayne Gretzky’s 16-game mark from 1984-85.
The more spectacular point came 50 seconds in at Madison Square Garden. After Matt Tomkins stopped Mika Zibanejad, Bouchard moved the puck to McDavid on the left side. McDavid banked it off the boards to himself in the neutral zone, hit another gear past Vladislav Gavrikov and lifted his ninth goal of the season over Rangers netminder Dylan Garand.
NHL fans on X were awestruck at the Oilers superstar’s flashy goal, scored 50 seconds from the start of the game.
“Just take a penalty at this point with this guy. Throw your glove at the puck or dropkick him or something. Dude’s unstoppable,” @EliasToufexis jokingly wrote.
“We won’t see another player like this,” reckons Woi_Time.
“He’s the greatest of all time”, opined @winners_only_.
“Gavrikov gets embarrassed,” laughed @ShmattyD.
“Jesus was seen. Unstoppable,” wrote @CBCBCB98.
It was the 418th goal of his career, past Glenn Anderson for fourth in Oilers history, and his eighth in the first minute of a game, which broke a tie with Mark Messier for the franchise record. He finished with a goal and an assist and his 39 points are the most in the league.
Rangers head coach Mike Sullivan called the opener a tough one to concede.
“McDavid is a unique player. He ramps up speed like that, it’s hard to stop,” Sullivan said.
Oilers HC Mike Babcock commends Connor McDavid for leading with example in 4-1 win over NY Rangers
Connor McDavid’s ongoing 15-game point streak is the sixth-longest of his career and his second to open a season at that length; he began 2021-22 with a 17-game run. At 39 points in 15 games, the Oilers captain is on pace to join Wayne Gretzky as the only players to reach 200 in a season.
“That’s your job as a leader to get us started on time. He started on time and obviously set us up for success,” said Oilers head coach Mike Babcock about McDavid.
“Try not to get killed initially. Two guys above, so I was just trying to find my way through there. And then once you do, the D’s kind of flat-footed, so I just tried to get it to the net,” Connor McDavid said of the blazing finish.
Edited by Srihari Anand
