Oilers' McDavid Inches Towards History In Overtime Thriller Over Islanders

Not exactly how you'd draw it up, but a win is a win.

The Oilers came out with a win despite blowing a third-period lead in an overtime thriller against the New York Islanders on Tuesday night. And wouldn't you know it, Connor McDavid led the charge.

No spoilers, but keep in mind that McDavid came into Tuesday's game just five points away from 1000 for his career.

The first two periods were, in McDavid's words, a "snoozer". After a scoreless first, the Oilers struck quickly on the powerplay to open the second period on a vintage McDavid-to-Draisaitl connection. That's one for McDavid and another for the Oilers' beleaguered powerplay.

The Isles eventually struck back despite generally being outplayed in the first two frames, when Kyle Palmieri beat Stuart Skinner from long range late in the second period to tie the game at 1.

Not to be deterred, the Oilers started the final frame of regulation the same way they started the second: with a first-minute goal. This time, both McDavid and Zach Hyman missed goals by mere inches, before Evan Bouchard finally bailed them out by firing a wrister over Ilya Sorokin's shoulder. Two points for McDavid and a 2-1 Oilers lead.

Evidently tired of just assisting on goals, McDavid joined in on the fun later in the third. Taking advantage of a glaring missed tripping call, McDavid found Ryan Nugent-Hopkins for a give-and-go before depositing the puck into the Islanders' net with a perfectly placed backhand. 3-1 Oilers and McDavid is just two points away from 1000.

But the Oilers started to unravel. First, they got caught flat-footed in their own zone. Jeff Skinner got walked by defenceman Ryan Pulock, who fired on Stuart Skinner. Skinner (the goalie, that is) kicked the rebound directly onto the stick of Isles captain Anders Lee, who fired it into the back of the net to get revenge for the missed McDavid trip earlier and shorten New York's deficit to one.

Every Oiler fan in the building could feel what was coming next. Islanders head coach Patrick Roy's infamous strategy of pulling the goalie as early as possible paid off, as with the net empty and three minutes left Lee found the back of the net yet again to tie the game at 3. The Oilers were off to overtime for the fourth time this season.

Thankfully, the Oilers are pretty good at 3-on-3. After a heroic puck possession shift from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Zach Hyman, and Mattias Ekholm, McDavid, Draisaitl and Bouchard jumped over the boards to face an exhausted Islanders unit. It took all of three seconds for them to take advantage. Bouchard to McDavid, McDavid to Draisaitl, and Draisaitl to the back of the net.

The classics are classics for a reason, and the Oilers sure enjoyed playing the hits as they salvaged a blown lead to walk away with two crucial points and notch their second consecutive win.

Player of the Game: Connor McDavid

It's been a trying start to the year for McDavid: scoring at only a point-per-game pace, missing three games due to injury, watching pass after pass turn into nothing but saves and missed nets.

Well, it turns out he's still the best player in the world.

With a goal and three assists on Tuesday, McDavid now has 999 career points in just 658 games. With his next point, he'll become the 99th player to reach 1000 points, and the fourth-fastest ever behind Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Mike Bossy.

"We're not talking greatness," Leon Draisaitl told reporters after the game. "we're talking legendary type stuff."

Play of the Game

Who else? Yeah, McDavid probably should've been called for tripping on Anders Lee. But he kept his head in the play, finding Nugent-Hopkins down low to immediately put the Islanders on edge. A couple of incredible backhands later -- one from Nugent-Hopkins on the pass, another from McDavid to score -- and it's a 3-1 Oilers lead.

This game shouldn't have been as close as it was. The Oilers dominated: they won the expected goals battle 4.15 to 1.36, and every single Oiler outplayed every single Islander (except Oliver Wahlstrom) according to xG%.

The powerplay scored again, and the penalty kill was perfect on two tries. Stuart Skinner had a tough night, letting in three soft goals, but this Oilers team is built to outscore their problems. After big wins on Tuesday and Saturday, it looks like they're finally starting to actually do that.

McDavid will get his next shot to reach 1000 points on Thursday when the struggling Nashville Predators come to town.

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