Connor McDavid scores 60th goal of season in historic fashion
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Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid scored his 60th goal of the 2022-23 season against the Arizona Coyotes at Rogers Place on Wednesday.
McDavid is only the second player to reach the milestone since 2012, and the first Oiler to do it since Wayne Gretzky in 1986-87. In true McDavid fashion, No. 97 added some dramatics to the milestone, becoming the first player in NHL history to score his 60th goal of the season in overtime.
With Wednesday’s monumental OT winner against the Coyotes, McDavid became the fastest player to 60 tallies (72 games) since the legendary Mario Lemieux in 1995-96 and just the fourth player in the salary cap era to hit the 60-mark after Alex Ovechkin in 2007-08, Steven Stamkos in 2011-2012 and Auston Matthews last season.
The 26-year-old’s two-goal night brings his point tally to 138 on the season, a whopping 28 points ahead of current runner-up Leon Draisaitl and nearly 40 points ahead of third-place Nikita Kucherov. McDavid has recorded 299 goals and 536 assists for 835 points in 559 NHL games in his career so far.
McDavid will now have his sights set on equaling, and surpassing, Alexander Ovechkin’s 65-goal output in 2007-08 — the most tallies recorded in a single season since Mario Lemieux’s 69 in 1995-96.