Connor McDavid is within reach of a milestone that could go down in hockey history.
McDavid needs seven points in Edmonton’s final five games to reach 100 in 56 games during this shortened NHL season. Getting there would be an achievement remembered alongside Wayne Gretzky’s 50 goals in 39 games, but the Oilers captain is far more worried about the 16 victories needed to win the Stanley Cup than the chase for 100 points. “It’s a number,” McDavid said Monday night. “If I get there, great. If not, it’s not the end of the world, either. The most important thing is that our team is gearing up for the playoffs and ensuring we’re firing on all cylinders in Game 1.”
McDavid, teammates, and coach Dave Tippett are tempering expectations and shifting focus to the postseason, where the world’s best hockey player has only been once in six pro seasons. Edmonton fizzled out in the expanded, 24-team bubble playoffs last year, and that only fired up McDavid more to get into the round of 16 and beyond. The result has been a points-per-game average topped only 23 times since the expansion era began in 1967. Those seasons are full of Hall of Famers, including Gretzky (11 times) and Mario Lemieux (6).
“He’s proven very difficult to keep off the scoresheet this year, and he plays the right way every night,” Oilers defenseman Tyson Barrie said. “He hasn’t taken any nights off, which is pretty incredible. Watching this year has been impressive and fun to participate in.” McDavid is the leading candidate to win the Hart Trophy as NHL MVP, which he won for the first time in 2017 when Edmonton made a run to the Western Conference final. He led the league with 100 points that season and had 108 the following year.
Getting 100 in 56 games would be on another level. With the Oilers all but locked into second place in the North Division, McDavid‘s race to 100 is the last notable goal during the regular season.
“We’re going to try to get him there as best we can, but he can get ’er done on his own if he needs to,” Barrie said. Tippett said this season would be memorable regardless of the 24-year-old center’s points total. Perennial postseason success is the next thing in reach for the Oilers.
“He’s the captain and the leader of our team; he wants our team to play well,” Tippett said. “He wants to be a playoff team year after year and give himself a chance to win the Stanley Cup, so he’s very motivated.”
HOUSER’S MOMENT
Goaltender Michael Houser is six years removed from being an American Hockey League regular, and his last start came on March 7, 2020, with Cincinnati of the ECHL. That only made Houser’s 34-save victory in his NHL debut Monday night for Buffalo an accomplishment.
“I was excited to play behind six NHL defensemen,” Houser said. “Anytime you’re in the (ECHL), it seems like a jump to get there. … But they always tell you to stay ready.”
RACE FOR HOME ICE
A handful of teams are still running for the President’s Trophy and home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs. Carolina is firmly in the driver’s seat there, especially after Vegas blew a 5-3 lead and lost at Minnesota on Monday night.
Florida, Tampa Bay, Colorado, Toronto, and Washington are also in contention near the end of a season with no crossover play out of the division. Who’s the best team? No one knows.
GAME OF THE WEEK
St. Louis visits Vegas on Saturday in what could be a preview of a first-round series in the West.
LEADERS (through Monday)
Goals: Auston Matthews (Toronto), 39; Assists: McDavid, 60; Points: McDavid, 91; Ice time: Drew Doughty (Los Angeles), 26:38; Wins: Andrei Vasilevskiy (Tampa Bay), 39; Goals-against average: Petr Mrazek (Carolina), 1.60; Save percentage: Filip Gustavsson (Ottawa), .944.
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AP freelance writer Joe Yerdon in Buffalo, New York, contributed.
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Follow AP Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno on Twitter at https://twitter.com/SWhyno.
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More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
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