In Edmonton, Connor McDavid picked up two assists on Wednesday night in recording his 500th points in the NHL.
“It’s a little milestone, I guess, a little thing along the way here, which is nice,” McDavid said. “To see and feel some of the reaction from my teammates and friends and family and stuff like that, it’s always special, so I really appreciate the support.”
The two assists helped the Oilers defeat the Winnipeg Jets, 3-2.
Mike Smith made 33 saves in the win and in the process erased the bad taste of his previous outing, making just seven saves ahead of getting the hook.
Mark Scheifele scored for the Jets.
Leon Draisaitl struck for a pair of goals, and Jesse Puljujarvi scored early in the opening frame for a 1-0 lead for the Oilers.
“It was a little bit of a weird game, I think a lot of the guys really couldn’t find a rhythm because of the [amount of] penalties [12 combined],” Draisaitl said. “I think it was a hard game for a lot of guys to get into on both sides. I thought we handled it OK. Obviously two points are two points and that’s the most important thing.”
Neal Pionk cut the Oilers’ lead to 3-2 early in the third, but Smith locked the cage the rest of the way.
“I like the way we came out to play and we went 60 minutes and gave up 14 even-strength shots,” Jets head coach Paul Maurice said. “You walk off the bench in a bad mood every time you lose a game, but it wasn’t a missed opportunity. We played hard, they played hard, their goalie was good, our goalie was good. The flow of the game was tough to get a handle on, but I thought we were trying to grind through it, so we won’t spend too much emotional energy on that one.”
Edmonton improved to 10-8-1.
“There’s been quite a few players to get to 500, but to do it as fast as he’s done it, and in the company he’s done it with, is pretty remarkable,” Oilers head coach Dave Tippett said. “It just shows you what a talent he is. I know he doesn’t look at those milestones very much, but I think later in life he’ll be very proud of some of those milestones he’s put forth. He still wants the team milestones ahead of the individual milestone, so that’s what he’s striving for.”
Connor Hellebuyck made 27 saves in the loss.
“We battled back but I think tonight it’s more on us on the power play,” the Jets’ Paul Stastny said. “We buried it once, but we have to have more possession, more chances than we did. You look at their power play, they scored once, but they put a lot of pressure and tired guys out. Sometimes it’s the little details that make the difference.”
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