Connor McDavid set an NHL record Wednesday night, assisting in his 13th straight game to open the season as the Oilers blanked the Flames 4-0.
That run pushes him past Wayne Gretzky, whose 12-game streak back in 1982-83 also came in an Edmonton sweater. Two others had matched that 12, but nobody had gone further.
Two more helpers did it, one of them on the power play. He logged 18:50, put three shots on goal and finished plus-1 against a Flames club now sitting at minus-17 in goal differential.
The season line through 13 games looks like a typo. McDavid has 28 assists and 36 points, and he's a plus-17 for a team sitting first in the Pacific Division.
And the last five games have been sillier still. He's piled up 11 assists and 13 points in that stretch, so the streak is speeding up as it gets longer.
He plays like a dinner host who keeps refilling every glass at the table and never sits down to eat. Eight goals, and plenty of full plates around him.
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McDavid still hasn't scored on the Oilers power play this season
Here's the oddity. Twelve of those assists have come with the man advantage, yet No. 97 is still waiting on his first power play goal of the year.
So who's finishing? Leon Draisaitl, mostly, with six power play goals of his own.
The German went pointless Wednesday, which pushed the scoring further down the lineup.
Mathieu Joseph delivered the winner, his second game-winning goal of the season. Mattias Ekholm, Alex Formenton and Kasperi Kapanen, on the power play, handled the rest.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins chipped in two assists, one on the power play, in just his fourth appearance of the year. He now has five points in those four games.
In the crease, Tristan Jarry turned aside all 24 shots for the shutout. That's big news for Mike Babcock with Devon Levi on injured reserve and expected out until at least Nov. 9.
Now the schedule turns. The Oilers are 5-0-0 on the road, and they open a three-game Metropolitan swing Saturday on Long Island.
Saturday against the Islanders and Sunday against the Rangers make up a back-to-back, with a Tuesday stop in New Jersey after that. Streaks tend to end on tired legs.
One more thing. Nine players carry a bigger cap hit than McDavid's $12,500,000, Draisaitl among them.
Right now, the best player in the world is the 10th-highest paid player in the league. That's the bargain of the season, and nobody else is close.
So how long does this thing run? Gretzky's mark stood for more than four decades, and his successor isn't even out of October yet.
Will Connor McDavid push his season-opening assist streak past 20 games?
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