McDavid scores 60th goal of season for Oilers

Connor McDavid scored his 60th goal of the season for the Edmonton Oilers in a 4-3 overtime win against the Arizona Coyotes at Rogers Place on Wednesday.

The 26-year-old forward scored twice to reach the milestone, including getting the winner on a breakaway at 1:31 of overtime. He was playing in his 72nd game, one fewer than it took Toronto Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews to score 60 goals last season.

“I felt I was kind of pressing for 60 all night,” McDavid said. “You’re not going to get much better looks than that. And it’s not every day you get back-to-back breakaways like that.”

McDavid is the 22nd NHL player, and fourth active, to score at least 60 goals in a season. Along with McDavid and Matthews, Steven Stamkos scored 60 goals in 82 games with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2011-12, and Alex Ovechkin scored 65 goals in 82 games with the Washington Capitals in 2007-08.

McDavid is also the third player in Oilers history to score at least 60 goals in a season, joining Wayne Gretzky (five times) and Jari Kurri (twice).

“At the end of the day, they’re all just a number,” McDavid said. “But you know, a lot of great players have reached that number, and it feels good to join that list. Obviously, we’ve got a lot of work left this year, and we’re looking forward to putting ourselves in a good spot heading into the postseason.”

Video: Check out all 60 of McDavids goals in 72 games

McDavid is on pace to finish with 68 goals this season, but if he scores 10 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.

McDavid’s previous NHL career high in goals was 44, which he set in 80 games last season.

“[McDavid] has taken it to a different level this year,” Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft said on March 10. “I think everybody goes to the goal-scoring, but that speaks for itself the pace he’s on right now. But I would go to the leadership side of things, him stepping that part of his game up. … On the ice, what he is doing is spectacular. I don’t think it should be lost on anybody what we are seeing in his regular-season performance.”

On top of leading the League in goals, McDavid is also first in the NHL in assists (78) and points (138), the most since 1995-96, when Jaromir Jagr had 149 points and Mario Lemieux had 161 for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

“No, I don’t think [I’ve seen anything like it],” Maple Leafs forward John Tavares said on March 10. “He’s on pace for numbers that we haven’t seen since Gretzky and Lemieux, so pretty good two guys to be comparing with if your numbers are matching up. It’s pretty remarkable. He makes everybody just look so slow. It’s just incredible what he can do, not just how fast he is, but what he does at that speed and how he thinks the game.”

Since being selected by Edmonton with the No. 1 pick in the 2015 NHL Draft, McDavid leads the League with 835 points (299 goals, 536 assists) in 559 games, 32 fewer games than Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl, who is second in that span with 717 points (296 goals, 421 assists).

“Most players have slumps or bad years. He doesn’t have them,” Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov said. “It’s one thing to be the best. He wants to be the best. He pushes for it year after year, and he’s doing it again this season.”

NHL.com staff writer Mike Zeisberger contributed to this report