Connor McDavid made history Thursday in front of the home crowd as the Edmonton Oilers forward tallied the 1,000th point in his career with a goal and added an assist in overtime during the Oilers’ 3-2 win over the Nashville Predators.
With goal No. 341, McDavid becomes the 99th NHL player to reach the 1,000-point plateau. By doing it in his 659th career game, the Ontario native became the fourth fastest to reach the milestone.
With the teams playing four-on-four in the second period, McDavid took a pass from Leon Draisaitl on a two-on-one breakaway and snapped it past Nashville goalie Scott Wedgewood at 2:44. As the horn wailed, the Edmonton bench emptied to congratulate the team captain.
In overtime, McDavid fed Darnell Nurse, who fired a one-timer past Wedgewood to extend the Oilers’ winning streak to three games.
Wayne Gretzky, who also reached the milestone wearing an Oilers jersey, needed only 424 games to notch his 1,000th point 40 years ago. Mario Lemieux of the Pittsburgh Penguins achieved the mark in 1992 after 513 games, while Mike Bossy reached the feat in 1986 after 656 games with the New York Islanders.
Gretzky, Lemieux and former Detroit Red Wings star Steve Yzerman are the only players who reached this milestone at a younger age than McDavid, 27.
McDavid also becomes the 10th active 1,000-point scorer in the NHL. John Tavares of the Toronto Maple Leafs was the last to join the club, doing so on Dec. 11, 2023.
The milestone is the latest accomplishment for the No. 1 pick by the Oilers in the 2015 NHL Draft. McDavid’s resume also includes five scoring titles and three Hart Memorial trophies (MVP). He also is on a hot streak with three goals and six assists in the Oilers’ past three games.
Nurse was credited with the secondary assist on the milestone play after creating a turnover in the Oilers’ defensive end.
–Field Level Media
