Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid picked up a secondary assist on Ryan Nugent-Hopkins’ power-play goal in the first period of Friday’s game against the New York Rangers to become the first NHL player to score 100 points in the 2022–23 regular season.
Operating from the right flank in the offensive zone, McDavid started a tic-tac-toe passing play that culminated with Nugent-Hopkins feeding Zach Hyman for a tap-in attempt in the crease.
Although Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin managed to stop Hyman’s shot, Nugent-Hopkins followed up on the play and deposited the loose puck into the yawning cage for his 27th goal of the season, which came at the 7:52 mark of the first period.
McDavid subsequently assisted on Leon Draisaitl’s power-play marker with 1:33 left in the period to up his point total on the season to 101. The 26-year-old forward has appeared in all 56 of the Oilers’ games this season, recording 42 goals and 39 assists.
McDavid became the fourth player to be the first to reach 100 points in five different seasons, joining Wayne Gretzky (nine times), Mario Lemieux (six times), and Phil Esposito (six times).
He also required the second-fewest games to reach 100 points in a season since the 1996–97 season, only behind … well, Connor McDavid on the leaderboard:
- Connor McDavid (2020‒21): 53 games
- Connor McDavid (2022–23): 56 games
- Mario Lemieux (1996–97): 61 games
- Nikita Kucherov (2018–19): 62 games
McDavid is now just two points away from reaching 800 in his NHL career. He is the 16th NHL player to score 100 points in a season six times.
The Richmond Hill, ON product is also the fifth player in NHL history with six or more 100-point seasons before age 27 (joining Gretzky, Lemieux, Dale Hawerchuk, and Bobby Orr) and the sixth to score 100 points in six of his first eight NHL seasons (alongside Gretzky, Lemieux, Hawerchuk, Peter Stastny, and Mike Bossy).
The Oilers currently lead the Rangers by a 4–1 score early in the second period of Friday’s game against the New York Rangers at Rogers Place.
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