Fifty Seconds In, History: McDavid's Opening-Minute Goal Leads Edmonton's 4-1 Win at the Garden
Connor McDavid scored before most of Madison Square Garden had sat down, then became the fastest player in NHL history to 30 assists in a season. Edmonton is 7-0-0 on the road. The Rangers have lost four straight.
The game was 50 seconds old when Connor McDavid finished a coast-to-coast rush for his ninth goal of the season, and the rest of Sunday night at Madison Square Garden was an extended footnote. Edmonton's 4-1 win over the New York Rangers ran McDavid's season-opening points streak and assists streak to 15 games each; the secondary assist he added on Evan Bouchard's power-play goal in the second period made him the fastest player in NHL history to reach 30 assists in a season. He finished the night with 39 points. The opener itself was a record: his eighth career goal inside the first minute, breaking the Edmonton franchise tie he had held with Mark Messier.
Edmonton needed more than its captain, and got it from two unlikely names. Colton Dach scored twice — the first two-goal game of his career — including the goal 6:19 into the first period that made it 2-0. And Matt Tomkins, making his Oilers debut in goal, carried a shutout deep into the third period before Pavel Dorofeyev jammed a rebound past him with 6:38 left; Tomkins was named the game's first star. Bouchard finished with a goal and two assists. The Rangers' goal ended a shutout streak of 159 minutes 20 seconds, as the team's own site recorded it — the only blemish on a debut the visitors will happily take.
The standings tell the two stories. Edmonton is unbeaten on the road at 7-0-0, matching the 1983-84 team for the best road start in franchise history, and has won three straight. New York has lost four in a row, is 1-5-1 in its past seven, and has conceded the opening goal in every game of the skid — this time before the first minute was out. Dallas readers will meet both teams soon enough; the Stars, 8-5-1 after Saturday's win over Columbus, watch nights like this one for the shape of the conference around them. On Sunday, the shape was simple: the best player in the world is playing some of the best hockey of his life, and he started proving it 50 seconds in.
