McDavid Stretches Point Streak to 19 as Oilers Beat Rangers 3-1

A gift, a streak and a win

Connor McDavid did not need a masterpiece to make history on Monday night. He needed a mistake, a sharp pair of eyes and the inevitability that has defined the Edmonton Oilers' season. When New York Rangers goaltender Dylan Garand went behind his own net to play the puck in the first period at Rogers Place, his attempted pass bounced off the back of the cage and straight into trouble. McDavid pounced at the right post and put the puck away at 6:42, giving Edmonton a 1-0 lead and extending his season-opening point streak to 19 games.

The goal was McDavid's 11th of the season and his 48th point in 19 games. He became only the fourth different player in NHL history to open a season with a point streak of 19 games, and the first since Dany Heatley ran off 22 straight for the Ottawa Senators in the autumn of 2005. The other names on that list are Wayne Gretzky, who did it three times, and Mats Sundin, who reached 30 games to start the 1992-93 season.

Edmonton went on to beat the Rangers 3-1, ending New York's three-game winning streak and improving to 13-3-3. It was not Edmonton's cleanest performance — head coach Mike Babcock admitted as much afterwards — but it was the kind of win good teams collect while still finding their best form. "It was an interesting game where we did a ton of good things, then I'd go, 'What just happened there?'" Babcock said. "We have to find a way to win every night. That's our job. We scored enough goals, then we checked."

Draisaitl and Levi do the heavy lifting

If McDavid supplied the history, Leon Draisaitl and goaltender Devon Levi supplied the win. Draisaitl scored twice for the second straight game, and Levi made 28 saves to improve to 8-1-0, earning a glowing verdict from his linemate. "I think he's the main reason that we won the game," Draisaitl said of Levi. "I don't think we were terrible, probably not our best, but he made the right saves at the right time. A couple of really, really big ones. He's been incredible for us."

Draisaitl made it 2-0 at 2:59 of the second period, picking up a bouncing puck after Vasily Podkolzin mishandled a slap-pass to the slot from Mattias Ekholm and firing a wrist shot through Garand's legs. The Rangers challenged for goaltender interference, but the goal stood after a video review. Draisaitl now has six goals during a four-game goal streak and 12 points in his past six games.

New York refused to fold. Jaroslav Chmelar pulled one back short-handed at 5:05 of the third period, moments after the Rangers had killed the first penalty of a five-on-three. Mika Zibanejad collected a loose puck and sent a stretch pass from the Rangers' defensive zone to Chmelar, fresh out of the penalty box, who skated in and buried a wrist shot glove side on Levi from the right circle. "I loved our game, I thought we played hard, I thought we competed, I thought we controlled a lot of play," Rangers coach Mike Sullivan said. "For whatever reason, it was a struggle to put the puck in the net tonight. Give their goalie credit, he made some big saves."

The visitors kept pressing and pulled Garand for a six-on-four advantage with 1:27 remaining after Edmonton defenceman Ryan Shea was penalised for tripping Alexis Lafreniere. Instead of an equaliser, the gamble produced the sealer: Draisaitl scored a short-handed empty-net goal from the Oilers' defensive zone at 18:47 for the 3-1 final. "We locked that down in the third period with some huge plays from the guys," Levi said. "If he doesn't score there, we're on a six-on-four for another minute and a half."

History, in very rare company

The numbers behind McDavid's streak are almost as startling as the streak itself. His 48 points — 11 goals and 37 assists — in 19 games make him only the fourth player ever to record at least 48 points before his 20th game of a season, joining Mario Lemieux, Gretzky and Joe Malone, who did it in 1917-18. His 18-game assist streak came to an end on Monday, but that run is tied with Adam Oates from 1992-93 for the second-longest assist streak in NHL history.

The context matters too. Edmonton had beaten the Vancouver Canucks 4-2 on Saturday to steady itself after a two-game winless stretch, while the Rangers arrived having won three straight, including a 4-3 win over the Seattle Kraken. They played like a team that believed it could win in a difficult building, and captain J.T. Miller was blunt: "I thought the goals that they scored were kind of fluky goals. We outplayed them today and we deserved a better fate. Their goalie played outstanding."

There is also the small print that keeps this Oilers season in perspective. Ekholm has four points in a four-game streak, Zibanejad's short-handed assist was his 36th career short-handed point — passing Mikael Backlund for the fourth-most by a Swedish player in NHL history — and the Oilers sit second in the NHL on 29 points from a possible 38. None of that will matter much in April. But for one night in Edmonton, a bounced pass, two Draisaitl finishes and a goalie in superb form were enough to keep the most remarkable start in modern hockey rolling. The streak is at 19. The next stop is 20, a mark McDavid reached last season, and nobody in Rogers Place looked ready to bet against him getting there.