May 16, 2022 by Eric Friesen

Connor McDavid has dazzled, dangled and brought fans out of their seats countless times during his seven-year NHL career. And while he’s had more impressive games offensively, McDavid turned in his most complete performance with the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday.

Facing immense pressure to win a playoff series after consecutive early exits, McDavid was a dominant force at both ends of the ice in Game 7. The 25-year-old had a goal, a primary assist, five shots, two takeaways, four hits, one blocked shot and a plus-two rating in a team-high 27:23 of ice time via Natural Stat Trick.

McDavid set up Cody Ceci for the series-winning goal in the second period, and then added the insurance marker in thrilling fashion with less than four minutes to play in regulation, as the Oilers beat the Los Angeles Kings 2-0 in Game 7 at Rogers Place. With the victory, the Oilers advanced to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 2017.

“It’s definitely up there,” said McDavid when asked where this game ranks among the best in his NHL career in his post-game interview with Oilers TV on Saturday. “But that being said, it’s just one round. There’s a long way to go here. We’re happy to move onto the second round, but that’s all we did.”

With two points in Game 7, McDavid matched Rick Middleton’s NHL record for most multi-point games in a playoff series with six. No. 97 finished the series with a league-leading 14 points in seven contests, the third-most points in the opening round of the playoffs in NHL history behind only Mario Lemieux (17 in 1992) and Wayne Gretzky (15 in 1987).

McDavid also joined Gretzky, Mark Messier and Paul Coffey as the only players in franchise history to record 10 assists in a playoff series. Trailing 3-2 in the series after a disappointing overtime loss on home ice in Game 5, McDavid put the team on his back and propelled the Oilers to two hard-fought triumphs in Game 6 and 7.

“I remember when [McDavid] cracked 100 points, and then he set a career-high in points this year, and so many great individual highlights, and the one thing I kept going back to is he’s driven to win,” said Head Coach Jay Woodcroft on Saturday. “He’s a fantastic teammate, he’s a leader who leads by example. And I’m happy for him. Two really good hockey games on his part.”

Winning a playoff series was an important first hurdle for McDavid and the Oilers to clear. But they are still 12 wins away from accomplishing their ultimate goal of bringing the Stanley Cup back to Edmonton. And McDavid is up to the challenge.