Connor McDavid lauds Leon Draisaitl for clinching rare NHL record surpassed only by Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux

By ARJUN B

Modified May 19, 2024 08:38 GMT

The Edmonton Oilers kept their Stanley Cup hopes alive with a crucial 5-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks in Game 6 of their second-round playoff series. Led by superstar Leon Draisaitl, the Oilers forced a decisive Game 7 that will take place back in Vancouver on Monday night.

Draisaitl was instrumental in the win, recording two assists to help the Oilers build an early lead. With those two helpers, Draisaitl reached the 100 playoff point mark in just his 60th postseason game.

He became only the third player in NHL history to accomplish that feat so quickly, surpassed only by legends Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux. Gretzky and Lemieux reached this milestone in 46 and 50 games respectively.

After the game, Oilers captain Connor McDavid heaped praise on his teammate for the achievement.

"He's been doing it since our first year in the playoffs in 2017, he's doing great then and he's doing great every chance we got in the playoff since," McDavid said of Draisaitl at 6:18 of the below interview.

"He is somebody that brings his game to whole another level. I said before, he is one of the best players in the world, lot of nights he is the best player in the world and in the playoffs, he's been nothing but great," McDavid added.

McDavid is right behind Draisaitl with 96 points in 60 playoff games. The two superstars will now have the chance to continue adding their points in Game 7.

Draisaitl has an 11-game point streak that has seen him put up 8 goals and 15 assists.

Leon Draisaitl leads Oilers to 5-1 victory against the Canucks

Leon Draisaitl set the tone early, assisting Dylan Holloway on the opening goal just eight minutes into the first period.

Canucks responded less than two minutes later, with Nils Hoglander burying his first playoff goal off a feed from Elias Pettersson.

A potential go-ahead goal by Edmonton in the dying seconds of the first period was disallowed due to incidental contact between Connor McDavid and Canucks goaltender Arturs Silovs.

The Oilers regained the lead in the second period when Zach Hyman deflected a shot past Silovs, with McDavid collecting the assist. McDavid then set up Evan Bouchard for his fifth postseason goal, giving Edmonton a 3-1 advantage.

In the third period, with McDavid recording his third assist of the game with a backhand pass to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who extended the lead to 4-1.

Evander Kane put the final goal with the help of Leon Draisaitl, notching his fourth playoff goal and sealing the 5-1 victory for Edmonton.