Wednesday, February 17, 2021 10:00 PM (ET)

Connor McDavid reaches 500 points as Oilers edge Jets

Field Level Media
Feb 18, 2021

Connor McDavid logged his 500th point in his 369th NHL game to help the host Edmonton Oilers earn a 3-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday.

Thanks to a first-period assist, McDavid tied the mark for the eighth-fewest games needed to reach the milestone, joining such legends as the Oilers' Wayne Gretzky (234 games) and the Pittsburgh Penguins' Mario Lemieux (287). McDavid pulled level with the Penguins' Sidney Crosby (also 369), with no other active players above them on the list.

McDavid added another assist in the second period.

Leon Draisaitl scored twice for the Oilers and Jesse Puljujarvi added a goal in the win, which was also Dave Tippett's 600th NHL coaching victory. Edmonton's Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had two assists.

Mark Scheifele and Neal Pionk scored for the Jets while Josh Morrisey collected two assists.

Puljujarvi and Draisaitl logged their goals 21 seconds apart, scoring on the Oilers' first two shots of the game. Edmonton goalie Mike Smith started the initial scoring play, sending a breakout pass up the ice, and Puljujarvi finished a give-and-go with McDavid at the 3:45 mark of the first period.

Draisaitl got his first past Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck at 4:06, taking a neutral-zone feed from Tyler Ennis and wiring a wrist shot into the net.

The Jets got on the scoreboard with 54 seconds left in the opening period. With Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse in the penalty box, Scheifele took a cross-ice pass from Kyle Connor and fired it through Smith's legs.

Midway through the second, Smith made a big save on center Paul Stastny to preserve Edmonton's 2-1 lead.

Draisaitl's second of the night gave the Oilers a little insurance heading into the third period. On a power play, the Oilers forward jumped on a juicy rebound off a Nugent-Hopkins shot, settled the bouncing puck and wristed a snapshot into the top of the net at 16:45.

The Jets came within one at 1:28 of the third when Pionk stepped into a slapshot at the point and blasted the puck past Smith.

Smith withstood the Jets through the rest of the third, and he finished with 33 saves. Hellebuyck stopped 27 shots.

--Field Level Media

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