Connor McDavid’s goal-scoring drought has been a mystery. He went ten straight games without scoring, but he hasn’t been bad.
Quite the opposite, actually. He recorded a whopping 25 consecutive assists between his goals, but when he finally scored, he did it at just the right time.
The game between the Edmonton Oilers and the St. Louis Blues went into overtime on Wednesday.
McDavid had a primary assist on both of Edmonton’s goals during regulation, and then he showed why he’s the best player in the world in overtime.
McDavid danced past a couple of defenders before taking a shot that went through goalie Jordan Binnington. It was McDavid’s 22nd goal, and it ended a 10-game drought without a goal.
”The timing was excellent,” said Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch. “He’s been doing everything but scoring and he’s been on the scoresheet two, three times almost every single night through that stretch. And wow, what a goal he provided in overtime.”
Connor McDavid now has 22 goals and 94 points through 55 games after a slow start to the season. He’s currently on pace for 137 points and to become the fourth player in history to record 100 assists in one season, after Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, and Bobby Orr.
A couple of days ago, McDavid hilariously said that he wouldn’t be shooting the puck anymore and instead just pass the puck. After his game-winning goal, he was confronted by the TNT crew about his ’lie.’ And McDavid’s response was A-plus.
”Well, there was no one to pass,” McDavid said, laughing.
”I was looking, but I just decided to hit it.”
Zach Hyman had the other two goals for the Oilers. He became the second player to hit the 40-goal mark in the NHL this season, after Auston Matthews, and it’s already a career-high for him.
“I’m so happy for him,” McDavid said of Hyman. “He is a guy who brings it every single day with a positive attitude and a smile on his face. Even when things aren’t going well, he shows up and is the same every day. It is great to see him get rewarded. He has been playing great this year. He’s banging in goals left, right and centre. It has been great for our team.”
