McDavid gets to 60 goals for Oilers with words, passes from Draisaitl

EDMONTON — Whether it comes via verbal encouragement from a friend or a pass to spring him on a breakaway (sometimes two), even a generational player like Connor McDavid needs help sometimes.

That’s where Leon Draisaitl comes in.

At some point last offseason, Draisaitl told his Edmonton Oilers teammate that scoring 60 goals was an obtainable one this season for the 26-year-old superstar.

It didn’t matter that only three active players — Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs (60 in 2021-22), Steven Stamkos of the Tampa Bay Lightning (60 in 2011-12) and Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals (65 in 2007-08) — had ever reached that milestone. Or that the previous high for the Edmonton captain in goals was 44, which he set last season.

Imagine the serendipity of the moment, then, when Draisaitl, the 27-year-old forward who’d help convince McDavid that the mark was reachable, set him up for No. 60 in overtime of Edmonton’s 4-3 victory against the Arizona Coyotes at Rogers Place on Wednesday.

First Draisaitl talked the talk. Then, when it mattered, he walked the walk.

“He has said that all along. He has always said that,” McDavid said about Draisaitl’s prodding that 60 was there for the taking. “We skate together a little bit together during the summer. It’s great to hang out with him away from the rink, and we still manage to talk about hockey. 

“He has mentioned that a few times and I kind of laugh it off.”

Not anymore.

In fact, McDavid said he’d been “pressing a bit” during the game to get that 60th.

If you know McDavid at all, that’s a very candid admission. Normally he doesn’t like to talk about himself or his individual accomplishments. It’s always about team success with him. Chances are, he wouldn’t have even revealed that it was a goal to reach that milestone had the Oilers not won.

But they did. And he did.

Video: Check out all 60 of McDavid’s goals in 72 games

“It is kind of cool to get there,” he said after the game.

That fact that he confessed about being pleased with a personal achievement means, in that regard, he’s like the rest of us.

The comparison ends there. 

When it comes to hockey, McDavid is like no one else right now. Just ask Draisaitl.

“I told him in the summer that there was no reason that he can’t score 60 goals,” Draisaitl said. “He is so special and creates so many opportunities for himself and has enough looks to get there. 

“I am obviously very happy for him and proud of him. He is just a special player.”

That was on display Wednesday. Consider the way he scored his two goals.

He opened the scoring at 5:47 of the first period from behind the goal line when he banked a shot off the back of goalie Connor Ingram’s head into the net. He admitted later it was his plan all along to do that.

[RELATED: McDavid scores 60th goal of season for Oilers]

Of course it was. He’s Connor McDavid.

With the game in overtime, Draisaitl sprung McDavid on a breakaway, but McDavid hit the post. Moments after McDavid slammed his stick in frustration at the lost opportunity, he took another feed from Draisaitl, this time scoring the winning goal on the same move from the previous breakaway. 

“You guess that (Ingram) is not going to think I’m going to do it twice so thankfully it worked out,” he said, breaking into a wry grin.

The goal even had Draisaitl, who was named the best passer in the league by his peers in an NHLPA poll earlier in the day, shaking his head.

“It is crazy to try that same move again and score on it the second time, but that is just what he does, I guess,” he said.

When it comes to McDavid, he’s making “crazy” look routine. Consider some of these numbers.

If he can score 10 goals in his final 10 games, he would be the first player to score at least 70 goals in a season since 1992-93, when Alexander Mogilny (Buffalo Sabres) and Teemu Selanne (Winnipeg Jets) each had 76. In reaching 60 goals in 72 games, he’s the fastest player to hit the milestone since Mario Lemieux scored 60 goals in 70 games in 1987-88. Matthews needed 73 games last season to reach 60. 

Can he maintain a goal-a-game pace to reach 70? He’s trending in that way already. He has eight goals in his past eight games and 18 in his past 15. 

And with Draisaitl in his corner, both on and off the ice, it really does seem obtainable, doesn’t it?