McDavid Reaches 50 goals, But Oilers’ Are 3-3-4 In Last 10

Connor McDavid scored twice against the Boston Bruins to reach 50 goals in a season for the first time in his dynamic NHL career.

That’s a fact that may surprise some NHL fans.

He has won the NHL Art Ross as the NHL points leader four times. He’s a four-time 40-plus goal scorer. McDavid has 289 goals in his first 548 games. He has recorded 100 or more points six times. This is his eighth NHL season. But before this season, McDavid never had more than 44 goals in a single campaign.

The bigger issue for the Oilers is McDavid’s milestone came in a 3-2 loss to the Boston Bruins. The Bruins are having a record-setting season. They are 46-8-5.

But the Oilers have now lost six of their last eight games. They remain in third place in the Pacific Division, but both wild card teams (Winnipeg Jets and Seattle Kraken) are within two points of the Oilers. The Calgary Flames and Nashville Predators, currently on the outside looking in for the playoffs, are still within striking distance.

With the trade deadline three days away (Friday, 3 p.m. ET), the question Oilers general manager Ken Holland is probably asking himself is whether his team is capable of making a serious run at a Stanley Cup.

The Oilers lead the NHL with a scoring average of 3.80 goals per game, but rank 20th with a goals-against average of 3.28. Their goaltending and defensive play still betrays them too often.

Holland is under pressure to make something happen this week. The Oilers looked at Erik Karlsson’s availability. But Holland only has about $1.4 million in cap space available. Landing Karlsson would be challenging.

Maybe a defensive style defenseman like Columbus Blue Jackets’ Vladislav Gavrikov is more realistic.

A veteran GM like Holland will want to do something. You don’t want to waste the best years of McDavid’s career.

For our readers who have a little extra time (14+ minutes) this morning, here are McDavid's first 50 goals this season. 👇

💰 The Toronto Maple Leafs are all-in! After acquiring Ryan O'Reilly and Noel Acciari from the Blues just over a week ago, Maple Leafs' GM Kyle Dubas got to work adding more depth to his squad, acquiring stalwart defenseman Jake McCabe, bottom-six forward Sam Lafferty, and a couple of conditional draft picks from the Blackhawks. The Toronto Maple Leafs currently hold second place in the Atlantic Division, 15 points back from the Bruins and only 4 points ahead of the Lightning. And with their first playoff series win since 2004 in mind, Kyle Dubas suggests he might not be done...

🍾 Mikko Rantanen hits 40 goals for first time in his career in 3-0 win over Vegas. The Finnish forward scored just 14 seconds into the game thanks to an Adin Hill miscue (check our highlights section, although more a like a lowlight) for his 39th of the season before one-timing J.T. Compher's backdoor pass for his 40th. Rantanen is the fourth Avalanche player to hit the 40-goal mark alongside former Rocket Richard winner Milan Hejduk, teammate Nathan MacKinnon, and Avs' GM, Joe Sakic. Alexander Georgiev made 31 saves for his 3rd shutout of the season and Nathan MacKinnon scored his 22nd as the Avs cruised to their sixth straight win.

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