EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Connor McDavid became the fourth-fastest NHL player to reach 1,000 points, scoring early in the second period in the Edmonton Oilers' 3-2 overtime victory over the Nashville Predators on Thursday night.
McDavid reached the milestone in his 659th game. Wayne Gretzky was the fastest at 424 games, followed by Mario Lemieux at 513 and Mike Bossy at 656. McDavid has 341 goals and 660 assists. He's the 99th NHL player to reach 1,000 points, and at 27, also the fourth-youngest.
“These milestones are a great time to reflect and look back," McDavid said. "It’s been a good 10 years and hopefully 10 more good ones. Some of these things have kind of hit me a little more emotionally than I would have thought.”
McDavid took a pass from Leon Draisaitl on a 2-on-1 break and beat goalie Scott Wedgewood with a shot to the near post to tie it at 1.
“Just seeing the way the players reacted means the world to me. It means everything to me,” McDavid said. “To hear the fans, that stuff means more to me than any of the numbers. It was a really special moment."
He added point No. 1,001 in overtime with a spinning backhand pass for an assist on Darnell Nurse’s second goal of the game.
“It is a special moment. I said it the other day, this is legendary stuff,” said Draisaitl, who has factored in on 446 of McDavid’s 1,001 points. “To witness that and to be a part of it and to have seen him grow up from when he was 18 and we first met him, it is pretty cool, pretty amazing to be a part of.”
McDavid took only 58 games to go from 900 to 1,000. He has six goals and 13 assists this season.
___ AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
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