By the Numbers: McDavid’s big night puts him in elite company

Connor McDavid’s slow start to the 2023-24 campaign already seems like a lifetime ago.

After tallying just two goals and 10 points in his first nine games ­- a slow start by McDavid’s lofty standards - the Edmonton Oilers captain quickly turned around his season and continues to write his way into the history books.

McDavid racked up six assists in Tuesday’s 8-4 victory over the Detroit Red Wings, including four in the third period. He is just the third player in the past 25 years to record six assists in a game, joining Pittsburgh Penguins defenceman Kris Letang, who did it earlier this season on Dec. 27, and Oilers teammate Leon Draisaitl, who did it on Jan. 31, 2021.

McDavid and Letang both achieving the feat in the same season is the first time multiple players have done it since the 1992-93 campaign when Mario Lemieux and Doug Gilmour pulled it off.

McDavid is also the first NHL player to have six-plus assists in a game where his team didn’t have a power-play opportunity since Don Grosso did it for the Red Wings on Feb. 3, 1944.

With six assists all at even strength, McDavid ties Letang, Grosso, Babe Pratt and Patrik Sundstrom for the second most in a game in NHL history with Wayne Gretzky continuing to hold the record with seven.

This was McDavid’s second career six-point game (the first was a three-goal, three assists performance on Nov. 14, 2019) and he became the fifth Oilers player with multiple six-point outings, joining Gretzky (22), Jari Kurri (four), Glenn Anderson (two) and Paul Coffey (two).

After his big night, McDavid also notably became the fourth fastest player in NHL history to 600 assists behind Gretzky (416 GP), Lemieux (514 GP) and Bobby Orr (608 GP), doing it in his 616th game.

The Richmond Hill, Ont., product also achieved another piece of history that pushed him further into elite company. He became the ninth player to have 1000+ career points in the regular season and playoffs combined in his first nine NHL seasons, joining Gretzky, Lemieux, Mike Bossy, Kurri, Bryan Trottier, Peter Stastny, Guy Lafleur and Denis Savard.

McDavid is tied with Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov for most assists this season (56) but McDavid has played six fewer games. His 77 points this season ties him for third in league scoring alongside Boston Bruins winger David Pastrnak. Kucherov is the outright leader with 90 points, followed by Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon with 87.