Connor McDavid became the first player in 27 years to reach 150 points in a season when he had two goals and an assist in the Edmonton Oilers’ 6-1 road victory over the San Jose Sharks on Saturday.
Edmonton captain scores twice, collects assist in 6-1 road victory over San Jose
Josh Dubow · The Associated Press
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One of the NHL’s most exclusive clubs needs to make room for Connor McDavid.
McDavid became the first player in 27 years to reach 150 points in a season when he had two goals and an assist in the Edmonton Oilers’ 6-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Saturday.
His milestone day was capped with a video tribute in the Oilers locker room with congratulatory messages from the other members of the 150-point club with Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Phil Esposito, Steve Yzerman and Bernie Nichols all welcoming the newest member.
“I haven’t put a ton of thought into it,” McDavid said about his latest milestone. “The guys kind of put a little video together of all the other five guys that have done it. It kind of hit me. That was special. To hear from all five was amazing.”
McDavid set up Ryan Nugent-Hopkins early in the first period for his 87th assist and scored with 1:44 left in the first period for his 63rd goal to reach the milestone last achieved by Lemieux when he scored 161 points in 1995-96.
McDavid added another goal late in the third period to give him 64 goals and 151 points with two games remaining in the regular season.
“A special player joined an elite group of players in the history of the game,” coach Jay Woodcroft said. “Obviously what drives him is making sure that the team wins. That’s a big reason why we won today.”
WATCH l McDavid’s pair powers Oilers to dominant victory over Sharks:
Connor McDavid leads the Oilers past the Sharks with 2 goals
Connor McDavid scored goals 63 and 64 as the Edmonton Oilers continue to roll with a dominant 6-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks.
McDavid needs five points in the final two games to pass the single-season highs for Esposito, Yzerman and Nichols. He then would trail only Gretzky (nine seasons with at least 160 points) and Lemieux (four seasons with at least 160 points).
Hyman, Derek Ryan and Philip Broberg also scored to help the Oilers win their seventh straight game. Edmonton, which began the day three points ahead of third-place Los Angeles in the Pacific Division, closed in on clinching home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
Stuart Skinner made 22 saves.
Tomas Hertl scored for the Sharks, who are assured of finishing in the bottom four of the league. James Reimer had 30 saves.
The biggest drama in the game was the milestone quest for McDavid and Sharks defenceman Erik Karlsson, who needed two points to become the first defenceman with at least 100 in a season since Brian Leetch in 1991-92.
Then late in the first period a rebound of Warren Foegele’s shot went right to McDavid, who knocked it in for the milestone goal to make it 2-1.
“I haven’t seen him better than this,” Sharks captain Logan Couture said. “I don’t watch [Edmonton] every night. But when I turn on the TV and watch him — every time he touches the puck, he’s a threat.”
Was it ever in doubt? @cmcdavid97 has finally hit the 1⃣5⃣0⃣-point mark and has done so during the NHL’s first-ever 16-game day.#NHLStats: https://t.co/P824XQBq5a pic.twitter.com/iAdRsqTNwA
The Oilers poured it on from there and cruised to the win.
With Cody Ceci back home for the birth of his first child, the Oilers called up 34-year-old D Jason Demers for his first NHL game of the season. Demers, who began his career in San Jose, played in his 700th career game.
Demers had a turnover in his own zone to set up Hertl’s goal in the first period that tied the game at one.
