May 25, 2024 by Eric Friesen

The Lone Star State has been the site of several memorable moments in Connor McDavid’s illustrious career.

McDavid scored his first career NHL goal at American Airlines Center on October 13, 2015. He also scored his first career NHL hat trick in that building on November 19, 2016. While those were indeed memorable, McDavid scored arguably the biggest goal of his career in Game 1 of the 2024 Western Conference Final.

After four full periods of hockey solved nothing, McDavid tallied the game-winning goal 32 seconds into double overtime to lift the Edmonton Oilers to a 3-2 win over the Dallas Stars on Thursday. With the victory, the Oilers earned their first win in the Western Conference Final since May 27, 2006, when they defeated the Anaheim Mighty Ducks 2-1 to claim their NHL-record seventh Clarence S. Campbell Bowl.

Just like his first NHL goal nearly a decade ago, McDavid redirected a puck into the back of the net – far from a typical goal for him. Though it won’t end up on his career highlight reel, the importance of that goal cannot be overstated.

“It’s always nice to score an overtime goal,” said McDavid following the Oilers Game 1 victory on Thursday. “A big goal. Great play by [Evan Bouchard], as per usual.”

The 27-year-old superstar scored the third-fastest goal to begin an overtime period in franchise history, behind only Randy Gregg (21 seconds, Game 2 of the 1984 Smythe Division Semi-Final) and Ryan Smyth (22 seconds, Game 5 of the 1997 Western Conference Quarter-Final). With the goal, McDavid recorded his 98th career NHL playoff point, passing Esa Tikkanen for seventh-most in franchise history.

Related: Call Outs, Stand Outs, and Shoutouts: Oilers take Game 1 in Dallas

The Oilers controlled most of Game 1 against the Stars. This was particularly true whenever McDavid stepped on the ice. He was flying all night and made a number of impressive passing plays for scoring chances.

McDavid registered his league-leading 20th assist of the playoffs on Zach Hyman’s career-best 12th goal of the playoffs, which made it 2-0 for the Oilers in the second period. McDavid joined Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Doug Gilmour and Nikita Kucherov as the only players in NHL history with multiple 20-assist playoff years. Even more impressively, McDavid joined Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Gilmour as the only players in NHL history to record 120 assists in a combined regular season and playoffs.

However, McDavid put his team in a difficult spot just 17 seconds into the first overtime when he was called for a double-minor high-sticking penalty. McDavid had high praise for his teammates for killing off that extended Stars’ power-play.

“I hated every second of it,” said McDavid. “The guys did an amazing job, truthfully. The penalty kill has just been amazing, and to step in there for four minutes against a good power-play, I can’t give those guys enough credit.”

Later in the first overtime, McDavid was denied on a glorious chance all alone at the top of the crease, when Stars’ goalie Jake Oettinger reached out his paddle to rob him of a sure goal. Fortunately for McDavid, the Stars made the mistake of leaving him alone in the slot in the second overtime frame, and this time, he didn’t miss.

“I just had to [put that first chance] in the net,” said McDavid. “Simple as that. It should have been in the net. I’m glad that we were able to get the win, otherwise I would had a tough time sleeping.”

There’s plenty of debate amongst Oilers fans about which is McDavid’s greatest goal. As for his most important goal, the consensus pick is his overtime-winner in Game 5 of the 2022 Western Conference Second Round to eliminate the Calgary Flames.

Sending your team to the Western Conference Final for the first time in 16 years and knocking off your biggest rivals in one fell swoop, should rocket that goal to the top of the list. But McDavid’s double overtime winner in Dallas might be even more significant.

Making it to the final four in 2022 was a massive step forward for this group, but they were completely outmatched by the eventual Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche. This time around, the Oilers have a deeper team with more playoff experience and a real chance to win the Cup.

For McDavid to come through in the clutch after multiple frustrating moments in the first overtime, and give the Oilers their first win in the Conference Final since he joined the organization in 2015-16, I think this goal has to be on par with his series-deciding marker against the Flames two years ago.