Connor McDavid scored his NHL-leading 61st goal of the season in his Edmonton Oilers’ 2-0 shutout win over the Los Angeles Kings. That was also his 300th NHL career goal as he beat goalie Joonas Korpisalo with a wrist shot from the slot on a short-handed breakaway. He pulled it off in front of his family, with his older brother Cam watching from the stands.
Cam McDavid was also a guest for a short interview with Gene Principe during the intermission and revealed how the 2022-23 is different for his younger brother and what significant changes he made for a deep run into the playoffs this spring.
“I think he took this season a little differently than he has in past seasons. He just works so much harder, you can tell just the change, he changed part of his lifestyle and he’s very dedicated to really wanting to win this year. And you can definitely tell.”
With last night’s win, the Oilers recorded their third straight victory. McDavid became the first player in NHL history to have five 10-game point streaks in a season, breaking Wayne Gretzky’s record of four in 1986-87. McDavid also became the fifth player in league history to reach 300 goals and 500 assists before playing 600 career games, following Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Peter Statsny and Bryan Trottier.
No one has been able to contain McDavid this season and his brother might be right that the Oilers’ captain made significant changes to his behaviour and lifestyle to turn Edmonton into a top contender.
His 2022-23 performance can already be cemented as one of the greatest in NHL history, but McDavid won’t be satisfied until he gets his hands on the ultimate trophy the Stanley Cup.