Oilers' Connor McDavid Compared to Gretzky, Lemieux as Playoff Dominance Continues
May 25, 2022
Connor McDavid will eventually need a Stanley Cup title to join the list of the all-time greats, and he took one step closer to accomplishing that feat with more brilliance Tuesday.
He led the Edmonton Oilers to a 5-3 victory over the Calgary Flames in Game 4 of their second-round playoff series with two more assists. Edmonton now leads the series 3-1 and is one win away from reaching the Western Conference Final for the first time since the 2005-06 season.
Social media didn't hold back the praise of the 25-year-old star:
Josh Lind @LindHockeyFileConnor McDavid has 10 multi-point games this postseason. <br><br>4 players (6 times) in NHL history have 12 or more multi-point games in one postseason. They all won the Stanley Cup that year.<br><br>At this rate, he'll be the first ever to 15 and the only one under 18 games played. Unreal. <a href="https://t.co/iBbUoa9QUg">pic.twitter.com/iBbUoa9QUg</a>
It wasn't a one-man effort, though, as Evander Kane and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins each scored two goals in the win. Nugent-Hopkins' second one with less than five minutes remaining was crucial and broke the 3-3 tie while saving the Oilers from collapse.
They seemed to be in full control with three goals in the first period, but Calgary came storming back behind three straight goals from Elias Lindholm, Mikael Backlund and Rasmus Andersson. Lindholm and Backlund cut the deficit to 3-2 with goals within 40 seconds of each other in the second period, and Andersson's goal was a short-handed one in the third.
Yet Edmonton's star power proved to be too much at the end with Nugent-Hopkins breaking the tie and McDavid assisting on Kane's second goal as insurance. McDavid has now scored two or more points in seven straight games and 10 of Edmonton's 11 postseason contests.
He will look to close out the Flames in Thursday's Game 5.
