Connor McDavid’s best goals of the season so far
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ESPN staff
Connor McDavid simply won’t stop scoring. Through 46 games, the Edmonton Oilers‘ No. 1 center has scored 38 goals, which is three ahead of David Pastrnak for the league lead and on a 68-goal pace.
That’s a big number, although it would result in only a tie for 18th overall in league history for a single season. What has been extraordinary is the way he has been scoring them. Simply put: Oilers games — such as Thursday’s tilt against the Tampa Bay Lightning (9 ET, ESPN) — have become a must-watch for both hardcore hockey fans and casual sports observers because one never knows when McDavid will create magic on the ice.
As the 2022-23 regular season carries on, we’re keeping track of all of McDavid’s best goals to relive the moments that have defined his campaign. Check back as the season continues, as this collection will be updated.
Note: Goals are arrayed in reverse chronological order, with the newest ones first.
Jan. 11 vs. Anaheim Ducks
At 10:23 of the first period of an eventual 6-2 Oilers win, McDavid showed off an exquisite spin move to lose Trevor Zegras, then found room through traffic to land a backhand past Ducks goalie John Gibson. Even the Anaheim crowd couldn’t help but roar in approval:
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Connor McDavid’s 35th goal of the season is a sensational backhander
Connor McDavid busts out some nifty moves en route to scoring his 35th goal of the season.
Jan. 9 vs. Los Angeles Kings
McDavid isn’t necessarily renowned for his backchecking, but on this night it led directly to another goal. With the Oilers down 5-2 in the third period, McDavid lifted Kevin Fiala‘s stick, snatched the puck, skated in and fired a wrister past Pheonix Copley:
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Connor McDavid steals the puck and scores on the wrister
Connor McDavid steals the puck and scores on the wrister.
Jan. 3 vs. Seattle Kraken
Just 48 seconds into the second period, McDavid took a pass from Mattias Janmark, hit the turbo boost and flicked the puck past Kraken goaltender Martin Jones:
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Connor McDavid scores his league-leading 33rd goal of the season
Connor McDavid shows off the moves and scores to increase the Oilers’ lead.
Dec. 13 vs. Nashville Predators
Given the star power on the roster, it’s no surprise the Oilers lead the NHL in power-play percentage (30.7% as of Jan. 19). And while some power-play goals come off sustained offensive zone wheeling and passing, others come from giving the puck to the best player in the world at his own blue line and having him stickhandle through the other team:
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Connor McDavid enters the zone with speed and scores on the power play
Connor McDavid enters the zone with speed and scores on the power play.
Nov. 30 vs. Chicago Blackhawks
NHL players are generally pretty fearless; it comes with participating in a high-collision sport. But one wonders what was going through Blackhawks defenseman Jack Johnson‘s head when he saw McDavid coming at him full speed en route to this beauty in a 5-4 Oilers win:
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Connor McDavid flies down the wing and scores
Connor McDavid flies down the wing and scores vs. the Blackhawks.
Nov. 19 vs. Vegas Golden Knights
Certain goals made this list because of the singular nature of McDavid’s play, be it the shot or the number of opponents he deked out; some made it because of the game situation. This one checks all of the boxes, as McDavid took a pass from Darnell Nurse, zoomed into the zone while fending off Alex Pietrangelo and roofed it over Adin Hill‘s shoulder for an overtime game winner:
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Connor McDavid scores a beauty for the Oilers in OT
Connor McDavid scores a beauty for the Oilers in OT.
Nov. 10 vs. Carolina Hurricanes
The Canes are once again one of the NHL’s top Stanley Cup contenders, and on this night they defeated the Oilers 7-2. But one of those two was absolute wizardry from McDavid:
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Connor McDavid scores on the backhander
Connor McDavid scores on the backhander
Oct. 27 vs. Chicago Blackhawks
It’s a hot ticket for local hockey fans when the Oilers come to town, just to see if McDavid will have a headlining performance. This night at the United Center was no exception: Fans got their money’s worth after seeing McDavid score a hat trick against the host Blackhawks, punctuated by a superb power-play goal in the third period:
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Connor McDavid dekes defender and scores five-hole to complete hat trick
Connor McDavid completes the hat trick in the third period and gives the Oilers the lead.
Knight’s Choice has won the 2024 Melbourne Cup, defeating Warp Speed and Okita Soushi in a thrilling finish at Flemington on Tuesday afternoon.
The massive outsider saluted for Irish-born jockey Robbie Dolan, who claimed victory in what was his first ever ride in the “race that stops a nation”.
In what was a gripping 164th staging of Australia’s most-watched thoroughbred race, Knight’s Choice proved too strong in a sprint to the finish, pulling over the top of Okita Soushi and holding off Warp Speed by the barest of margins.
Trained by John Symons and Sheila Laxon on the Sunshine Coast, Knight’s Choice was well down the betting across all markets. It was Laxon’s second Melbourne Cup triumph after she trained Ethereal to victory 23 years ago.
“This is the pinnacle of all pinnacles, this is the Melbourne Cup,” Symons said.
Zardozi rounded out the first four.
As the field approached the final few hundred metres it appeared as though Jamie Kah, aboard Okita Soushi, would become just the second woman to ride the winner in the Melbourne Cup. But Okita Soushi was swallowed up as the winning post neared, with Knight’s Choice beating Warp Speed to the line after a peach of a ride from Dolan.
“We’ll be singing tonight after a few beers,” Dolan, who was a contestant on the 2022 edition of “The Voice”, told Channel 9.
“It is amazing and a lot of people doubted this little horse. Doubt me now.”
Laxon was more than happy with the ride, with Dolan threading his way through the field from near last on the bend.
“He started the race, and he knew how to ride him. We didn’t give him instructions, he knew what to do,” she said.
“I love it being down for the Australians. The Australian horse has done it, and Robbie is Australian now as well, so I’m thrilled to win the Cup, and it is the people’s Cup, and that’s what it is all about.”
Knight’s Choice is just the sixth Australian-bred horse to win since 1993, and the first since Vow and Declare back in 2019.
The five-year-old gelding carried only 51kg to victory and was making its first start over the 3200m trip. It had most recently come off a fifth-placed finish in the Bendigo Cup, but had showed sparing little form this preparation otherwise.
“I watched every Melbourne Cup for the last 40 years. I thought my best chance was to get him to stay the trip and, hopefully, he can run home and do the quick sectionals he can on a good track and he proved everybody wrong,” Dolan said.
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