Connor McDavid was up to his usual tricks, as the Edmonton Oilers notched an impressive comeback victory over the New York Rangers Friday night.
After falling behind 4-1 in the second period, the Oilers rallied back in the third and overtime to win the contest 6-5. Edmonton scored three goals in the final frame of regulation — one of them being a phenomenal show of stick work by McDavid. His sensational goal tied the game at five, giving his team momentum to squeak out the victory.
After the game, Zach Hyman weighed in on his teammate’s impressive feat. “The bench went crazy,” Hyman said. “At that time of the game, to score a goal like that, it was pretty special. Only he can make a play like that. It was just Connor being Connor. I think it is the best goal I have ever seen.”
This latest victory by Edmonton continues an exceptional start to their 2021 season. Let’s dig into the numbers behind the squad’s resilient win Friday and their hot start to the year.
9-1: After their latest victory, the Oilers are 9-1 through ten games, a first in team history. That is the best record in the Western Conference, and their 18 points is tied for the most in franchise history through the first ten contests.
3: The Oilers fought back from down three Friday, and it’s been a while since they faced such a deficit. This was their largest comeback win since Feb. 23 of this year when they rallied to beat the Vancouver Canucks after going down 3-0 late in the first period. The Oilers are the second team this season to come back from 3 goals to win. The Tampa Bay Lightning achieved the feat on Oct. 14 against the Detroit Red Wings.
4: Leon Draisaitl notched the game-winning goal in overtime, his fourth of the young season. He is the second player in the expansion era (1967-68) to have four such goals in his team’s first 10 games of the year, joining Reggie Leach, who did it with the Philadelphia Flyers in 1981-82.
The number four is also how many defenders McDavid weaved through to score the marvelous goal that tied the game in the third period. It was easily the highlight of the night in the hockey world and an early candidate for goal of the year.
20: Both McDavid and Draisaitl finished with a goal and two assists, reaching the 20-point threshold in 2021. They are the second pair of Oilers teammates to reach 20 points through the team’s first 10 games of a season, joining Wayne Gretzky (30) and Jari Kurri (23), who did it in 1984-85.
10: McDavid extended his season-opening point streak to 10 games, becoming the 3rd player in team history with a double-digit point streak from the start of a season. Wayne Gretzky did it three times, and Sam Gagner did it once.