The Edmonton Oilers are starting to look like the team everyone expected them to be and captain Connor McDavid is a big reason why.
A 4-2 victory over the Nashville Predators on Thursday night gave the Oilers their second consecutive win and has improved their record to 2-3-0 after the team dropped the first three games of the season.
Jeff Skinner continued his hot streak and Brett Kulak got his first-ever multi-goal game, but it was McDavid who sealed the deal, scoring a goal in the second period that wound up being the game-winner.
It was McDavid’s first goal of the season and one that got him that much closer to setting a new Oilers franchise record.
McDavid restores the Oilers lead! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/Pbj2E3i4sd
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) October 18, 2024
While everybody waits patiently for McDavid to score his 1,000th career point (he currently sits at 987 after this win) there is another milestone that he could potentially set before that one, and this would make Oilers history.
This was his 70th career game-winner as a member of the Oilers, putting him just two back of Glenn Anderson for the most in franchise history.Â
Surprisingly, Wayne Gretzky is not even in the top three for this category as his 61 are behind all of Leon Draisaitl (62, which was scored earlier this week), McDavid, and Anderson.
There should be no question that McDavid will take over this franchise record at some point this season, barring a serious injury. The Oilers captain is simply too good to not add at least three more game-winners before the regular season closes out.
If anything, fans should maybe be surprised that Anderson is still holding the edge in this category. Despite playing 845 games as a member of the Oilers, McDavid could potentially pass the legendary Oiler in less than 700 games.
#97 will try to get one closer when the Oilers head to the Lone Star State on Saturday afternoon for a Western Conference Final rematch against the Dallas Stars.