On Thursday, Connor McDavid set a new season high with 45 goals, and he has 23 games left to continue skyrocketing that figure.
Naturally, McDavid wasn’t content with an empty net or some other disappointing goal to reach his goal. Instead, he showed a skill that few players are capable of – deliberately backstabbing Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry from behind the goal line during full flight.
McDavid leads the Rocket Richard Trophy, no one else is near Art Ross
This is the fourth season in which McDavid has scored at least 40 goals. He did so in 2017/18 and 2018/19 (both scoring 41 goals) and last season (when he set a previous peak of 44 goals).
With 23 games remaining, McDavid is in a strong position to score 50 points for the first time. Knowing him, 60 is a lofty, but not impossible thought – after the competition on Thursday, he picks up speed around 65.
It’s not like McDavid sacrificed all his playing prowess to chase his first Maurice Richard trophy. In addition to his two goals that evening (he added another at the end of the third penalty), McDavid also threw in two assists to extend his league lead in that category as the Oilers thrashed the beleaguered Penguins. 7-2.
The Pittsburgh Twitter feed captured the spirit of how McDavid & Co. lit up, with this torturous emoji:
This season, McDavid scored 109 (46 + 63) points in 59 matches. Before the start of Thursday’s game, McDavid led the Art Ross Trophy race in points with 105 points, 20 points ahead of Oilers teammate Leon Draisaitl. Nikita Kucherov finished third with 80 goals. Similarly, David Pastrnak started the night as one of the few threats to score more goals this season with 41 goals.
Lately, McDavid has been gaining milestones. In his last game, he became the fifth fastest player to score 800 career points.
He it also needed just 56 games to score 100 points in 2022-23.. At this rate, McDavid is making history so regularly that statisticians should probably be paid overtime.
Source: sports.yahoo.com
