In the closing seconds of Monday’s game in Edmonton, Connor McDavid believed his run of games with a helper had reached 19, with the Oilers about to seal victory over New York. A video review by the league decided otherwise, and one of the most remarkable runs of the young NHL season stopped at 18.
The moment came with the Rangers pressing on a power play and their goaltender pulled for an extra attacker. A loose puck bounced around in front of the Edmonton net, McDavid tangled with JT Miller, and the puck ended up with Leon Draisaitl, who flicked it down the ice into the empty cage. McDavid was initially credited with the helper, but replays showed that Miller’s stick had made the final contact ahead of Draisaitl, so the assist was removed.
Only Wayne Gretzky, with 23 consecutive games in 1990-91, has ever strung together a longer assist run; Adam Oates is the one other player to have reached 18. He hardly had a quiet night, though. The Oilers captain scored the opening goal, his 11th of the season, keeping alive a point streak that now covers all 19 of Edmonton’s games. Only three men had previously begun a campaign by recording a point in each of their team’s first 19 games: Gretzky, Mats Sundin and Dany Heatley. The Edmonton captain has joined that club with 48 points to his name.
Draisaitl’s two goals took him to a league-best 18 and mean he has now found the net in four games running. Goaltender Devon Levi turned aside 28 shots and has now won eight of his nine decisions. Jaroslav Chmelar’s goal, scored while New York were a man down, was their only reply.
The 3-1 result completed a season sweep of the Rangers, who had arrived on a three-game winning run, and lifted Edmonton to 13-3-3.
