Engulfed in some serious video game energy, the Edmonton Oilers center scored an instant candidate for the season's best goal late in the third period of a 6-5 overtime win against the Rangers on Friday.
McDavid's eighth goal of season sent the home crowd at Rogers Place into a frenzy, and for good reason. He got the puck at the top of the zone, waited for the perfect opportunity to strike, then puck-handled his way into a beauty of a goal with 2:59 left in the third period to tie the game 5-5.
"It was a nice goal," McDavid said. "I've scored some nice ones in my career, that's up there with a few of them. Thought the timing of it with the crowd and the night, felt a little bigger than a game in November. It was a nice goal, but I've scored some nice ones.
"I'm paid to score big goals and paid to do that type of stuff. That's just doing my job. Probably not the best idea to take four guys on every night. But I thought the situation was kind of weird. Everyone was coming up, I was coming down the pipe, just tried to make a play."
While McDavid tried to downplay the magnificence of his goal, his teammates didn't hold back.
"I think it's the best goal I've ever seen," forward Zach Hyman said.
Defenseman Darnell Nurse said, "Going 1-on-4, I'd never seen it before but it was a huge goal. ... Probably the nicest one I've ever seen."
Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl ended the game, which Edmonton trailed 4-1 in the second period, with the overtime winner. But surely everyone was still trying to catch their breath from McDavid's goal.
"I don't know if you watched the bench but the bench went crazy," Hyman said. "The time of the game to score a goal like that … pretty special obviously. Only he can make a play like that. Just Connor being Connor."
They'll be talking about that one for quite some time.
