Top-5: Connor McDavid reaches 900-point plateau

Last night in the NHL, 13 games were on the card.

Here are the results and highlights:

1. Connor McDavid reaches 900-point plateau

Before last night’s games, Connor McDavid had 898 points.

And after last night’s games, he was at 903 points. Thanks to a great night’s work (five points), he has reached the 900-point plateau for his career.

Already.

He is the fifth-fastest player in history to reach this plateau (602 games).

Only Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Mike Bossy and Peter Stastny have achieved the feat faster.

The Oilers totally dominated the Flyers in this game. 5-2 victory.

In addition to McDavid, Zach Hyman and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins also stood out. They each scored three points.

2. Nathan MacKinnon lives on another planet

A few days ago in St. Louis, Nathan MacKinnon was left off the score sheet for a rare occasion.

Yesterday, however, he picked up at least one more point in his team’s overtime win over the Islanders.

He is the first player in 35 years to score at least one point in the team’s first 20 home games. What a player!

He’s the one who nailed it in overtime.

MacKinnon goes under the arm of Sorokin for the OT winner pic.twitter.com/0icdob7f8f

– B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) January 3, 2024

Incidentally, 29 is the league’s top scorer in 2023. He’s ahead of McDavid in that regard.

Valeri Nichuchkin, who is also playing very well, almost scored the goal of the year.

3. Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin continue to dominate the league

It didn’t take long for the Capitals to make their presence felt in Pittsburgh yesterday.

Right from the start, Tom Wilson broke the ice.

Tom Wilson with the snipe! pic.twitter.com/Xu4FXBDL51

– Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) January 3, 2024

Before the end of the period, Alexander Ovechkin scored his team’s fourth goal.

His 830th career goal.

Ovi strikes on the power play pic.twitter.com/i32GS5ihpq

– B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) January 3, 2024

It was also his 1507th NHL point. That puts him ahead of Ray Bourque (1506) for the most points with a franchise…

Sidney Crosby was not impressed.

He scored his 21st of the season to reduce the gap to two goals.

Crosby scores his 21st of the year to draw the Penguins within two! pic.twitter.com/zpGYP9wktd

– Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) January 3, 2024

It was the 1540th point of his career.

Another move up the ranks for Sid! pic.twitter.com/u7ZRAT7nwN

– NHL (@NHL) January 3, 2024

4. Jonathan Drouin plays well

We’re finally seeing Jonathan Drouin’s true potential.

After a slow start to the season, the Quebecer is getting better.

Yesterday, he finished the game with a goal and an assist.

Jonathan Drouin ties it at three-all! 3⃣ pic.twitter.com/Acsqb9ZqgY

– Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) January 3, 2024

In his last 10 games, he’s collected 10 points.

This season, in 36 games, he has points in both games (18 points).

Is he on track to earn a longer-term contract for next season?

5. Five first-period goals for the Canucks

Last night, the Canucks came out strong.

They scored five goals on 16 shots in the first period. That set the tone for the game.

That’s goal number FIVE for the @Canucks and it’s just the first period. pic.twitter.com/iK39q8DTZf

– NHL (@NHL) January 3, 2024

Vancouver eventually won the game by a score of 6-3.

In the win, Thatcher Demko made one of the finest saves of the year.

Also, I didn’t know, but Trevor Zegras was traded to the Canucks.

Extension

– 20th win for the Bulgarian.

20-8-2

Alexandar Georgiev has hit the 20-win mark! pic.twitter.com/Aa5e09l6Mu

– NHL (@NHL) January 3, 2024

– Well done.

T.J. Brodie doing his best Olivier Giroud with that scorpion kick pic.twitter.com/ahkEIqGZm9

– Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) January 3, 2024

– With six wins out of a possible six, it was a fine evening for the Canadian teams. The Senators and Canucks faced off, and one team had to win. Ottawa lost.

– The best player in the world leads the charge.

– A quieter evening tonight.