McDavid reaches 100 points in Oilers win against Canucks

EDMONTON -- Connor McDavid scored his 100th point of the season for the Edmonton Oilers in a 4-3 win against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Place on Saturday.

McDavid had a goal and three assists and is the first player in 25 years, and ninth in NHL history, to score at least 100 points through his first 53 games of a season.
Mario Lemieux
(126) and
Jaromir Jagr
(101) of the Pittsburgh Penguins each did it in 1995-96, the 24th and 25th time it was accomplished. McDavid has 32 goals and 68 assists.
"It's special to be part of a group like that," McDavid said. "Obviously those are the game's best players of all-time, so it's special to be mentioned in the same breath as those guys. As for my game, I've just been focusing on trying to be prepared each and every night, and I think obviously team success comes first and our team's been able to play some good hockey most of the season with the exception of probably the first month there. So, when the team is playing well, that's when individuals are having success and you're seeing lots of guys on our team have some really good seasons."
McDavid reached the milestone when he set up Leon Draisaitl for a power-play goal during a two-man advantage at 19:40 of the second period to give Edmonton a 4-3 lead.

Draisaitl scored two goals for the Oilers (33-18-2), who secured second place in the seven-team Scotia North Division with their fourth win in five games. Mike Smith made 22 saves.
"Honestly, it's just impressive," Draisaitl said. "I don't think my English is good enough to find another word for it right now. It's incredible. We've played 50-some games, he's at 100 points. It's just very impressive and fun to be a part of."
Thatcher Demko make 30 saves for the Canucks (20-26-3), who have lost six of seven.
"I thought we were a little slow out of the gate and got out of the first [period] only down one, and then had a good push in the second," Demko said. "It was hard-fought and going into the third, we put ourselves in a decent position and we just couldn't find one there."

McDavid gave Edmonton a 1-0 lead on his first shift, 45 seconds into the first period when his shot hit the leg of Canucks defenseman Alexander Edler and went between Demko's pads.
Jesse Puljujarvi one-timed a pass from McDavid on a 3-on-1 to make it 2-0 at 6:53 of the second period.
J.T. Miller scored unassisted for Vancouver at 9:12 to make it 2-1, and Travis Boyd tied it 2-2 at 11:40 with a shot from the top of the right face-off circle.
"I did like our first, [but] I didn't think we moved our feet that well," Canucks coach Travis Green said. "But we hung in there, it was still 1-0 and we regrouped after the first, talked to our team [about] what we needed to do to be better, and they played a lot better in the second. We started to move our feet, got to the net and got some greasy goals and got ourselves back in the game."
Draisaitl gave the Oilers a 3-2 lead on the power play at 12:27 of the second period on a one-timer from James Neal, who took a drop pass from McDavid. It was Draisaitl's 500th NHL point.
"Obviously I'm proud of it, no question, but I'm planning on playing a few more years," Draisaitl said. "I think the fun years are still ahead here in Edmonton. [I'm] just fortunate and happy to be part of it and really excited for the next couple of years."

Tyler Graovac tied it 3-3 from the high slot at 14:21 before Draisaitl put the Oilers back in front in the final minute of the second with Canucks defensemen Tyler Myers and Travis Hamonic in the penalty box.
It was the seventh time this season McDavid scored at least four points. He has 31 points (nine goals, 22 assists) in his past 11 games.
"It solidifies that he is one of the top players to ever play the game," Oilers coach Dave Tippett said. "The level that he's played at this year, just what he's accomplished is one of those years, when you look at Wayne [Gretzky] or you look at Mario, it's one of those years where he's taken his talents to another level that is just elite for the League."