EDMONTON \u2013 Connor McDavid became the fifth-fastest player in NHL history to reach 900 career points, and he did so in style.<\/p>\n
Connor McDavid, welcome to the 900 points club. \ud83c\udf89 <\/p>\n
The @EdmontonOilers captain became the fifth-fastest player in NHL history to reach the milestone. #NHLStats: https:\/\/t.co\/M3bpZmUWWl pic.twitter.com\/iwpDEfNudN<\/p>\n
\u2014 NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) January 3, 2024<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s another nice milestone,\u201d McDavid said.<\/p>\n
The Oilers had just killed off a penalty in the second period, which enticed coach Kris Knoblauch to load up with a line of McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Zach Hyman. The decision worked perfectly.<\/p>\n
With the puck along the sideboards, Draisaitl chipped it down low to McDavid. Two Flyers, Sean Walker and Owen Tippett, converged on McDavid in an attempt to contain him. To no avail.<\/p>\n
McDavid whipped a no-look, backhand pass to Hyman, who was in the slot and streaking towards the net. Hyman had a step on Flyers centre Ryan Poehling, fended him off and deked to his backhand before beating goaltender Carter Hart for his team-leading 22nd goal of the season.<\/p>\n
The goal put the Oilers up 2-0 at 8:12 of the frame. They wound up winning 5-2 on Tuesday, their sixth straight victory, to improve to 19-15-1.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew he saw me,\u201d Hyman said. \u201cI just went there because I figured he\u2019s going to get it there somehow. He made an unbelievable play to get it there.\u201d<\/p>\n
This assist for his 900th career point is absolutely ridiculous. \ud83d\ude31 https:\/\/t.co\/MfAtbjFXyc pic.twitter.com\/wHyqqDUN1k<\/p>\n
\u2014 NHL (@NHL) January 3, 2024<\/p>\n
\u201cThe puck came down the wall and I saw him go to the net,\u201d McDavid said. \u201cI\u2019m just trying to get it to him. I thought that was the best way to get it to him. He puts on a great move and scores a big goal.\u201d<\/p>\n
There was a loud gasp in the arena as Hyman finished off the play. With due respect to his move in tight, it was McDavid\u2019s beautiful pass that truly got everyone\u2019s attention.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe does it all the time,\u201d Hyman said. \u201cYou never know what to expect. It\u2019s really fun playing with him. He just makes plays that nobody else can make.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s why he is who he is.\u201d<\/p>\n
McDavid, who opened the scoring for his 14th goal, added three more assists after setting up Hyman to cap off his\u00a010th career five-point game \u2014 the most of any active player. His last five-point game came on Nov. 26, 2023 against the\u00a0Anaheim Ducks.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s now up to 53 points on the season. He also got primary helpers on a Ryan Nugent-Hopkins power-play goal late in the second period, and Draisaitl and Nugent-Hopkins markers in the third.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s quite remarkable what he was doing. Never surprises me. I\u2019m over that phase of him surprising me, because he\u2019s done it so much,\u201d said Knoblauch, who coached McDavid for parts of three seasons in junior for the OHL\u2019s Erie Otters. \u201cYou just look to enjoy it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve played with him for a long time,\u201d Nugent-Hopkins said, \u201cbut he definitely always finds a way to bring something new to the table.\u201d<\/p>\n
The offensive explosion pushed McDavid to 903 career points. He\u2019s 97 points shy of 1,000 with 47 games remaining in the Oilers schedule.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s pretty mind-boggling to be able to do that in this day and age in (602) games,\u201d Nugent-Hopkins said. \u201cYou guys see it every night, too. It\u2019s pretty crazy to have the impact every night that he does.\u201d<\/p>\n
McDavid came into the season with 850 points. Hitting 1,000 this season was fully within reach considering he had 153 points last season. However, a slow start by his standards \u2014 10 points in his first 10 games \u2014 and an injury that caused him to miss two contests means it\u2019s probably unattainable for McDavid to get there before the Oilers\u2019 regular-season finale on April 18.<\/p>\n
Never say never when it comes to McDavid, though.<\/p>\n
McDavid is chasing Mike Bossy for the third-fastest player to 1,000 points. Bossy accomplished the feat in his 656th game. Spots Nos. 1 and 2 belong to Wayne Gretzky (424 games) and Mario Lemieux (513).<\/p>\n
For now, 900 points \u2013 really, 903 \u2013 is something to marvel at. Just ask Hyman.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a generational talent who\u2019s able to do that,\u201d Hyman said. \u201cPretty special for the era that he plays in to be in these (offensive) categories with these guys. I don\u2019t know if anybody\u2019s even close in recent memory.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s pretty unbelievable and pretty special to have an opportunity to play with him.\u201d<\/p>\n
(Photo: Andy Devlin \/ NHLI via Getty Images)<\/p>\n