McDavid sets single-postseason assists record
Oilers captain Connor McDavid set the NHL record for most assists in a single postseason, picking up his 32nd on Saturday night during Edmonton’s 8-1 win over the visiting Florida Panthers in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final.
McDavid broke the record previously held by Hall of Fame center Wayne Gretzky, who led the Oilers to four Stanley Cup titles in his tenure in Edmonton. Gretzky posted 31 assists in the 1988 postseason.
The Oilers’ victory trimmed their Final deficit to 3-1, and also featured McDavid’s first goal of the series. He finished with three assists, and four points, as Edmonton forced a Game 5 on Tuesday in Sunrise, Florida.
“Very high, just because of what was at stake,” Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said, when asked where this performance ranks on his list of great nights for McDavid. “An elimination game, here in the Final, he just continues to impress everyone, quite a night for him to set the record and we’re obviously very happy for him to be part of that. But yeah, he just keeps on making plays and scoring goals, making assists, whatever, but yeah, it was a great performance.”
McDavid now has 38 points this postseason, the most by an active player in a single postseason and tied for fifth most ever. He has 23 points in games following a loss this postseason, passing Doug Gilmour (20 in 1993) for the most in one playoff year.
All told Saturday, he helped to ignite an offense that had shown serious signs of wear and tear earlier in the series.
“It’s just one win,” McDavid said. “That’s all it is. It doesn’t matter if you score eight or if you score one. It’s just one win and we’ve got to go to Florida and do a job and drag them back to Alberta.”
Along the way, he also became the first player since 1987 to record four points in a Stanley Cup Final game when facing elimination. And he did so on a night, when the intimidating power-play unit that he’s on, delivered a goal in six tries.
“We’ve had lots of looks over the first four games, certainly created enough to have a couple go in,” Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl said. “It’s just not the way the game works sometimes. I’m just proud of the way we always stick with it, continue to work at it, and stay work based. Hopefully we can build off that a little bit.”
Information from ESPN Stats & Information was used in this report.
New Jersey Devils defenseman Dougie Hamilton will miss the remainder of the regular season and “possibly” the playoffs due to a lower-body injury, general manager Tom Fitzgerald said.
When pressed if Hamilton could return if the Devils reach the second round of the postseason, Fitzgerald wasn’t too optimistic on Wednesday.
“We’re not planning on it, how’s that?” Fitzgerald said during an appearance on the “Krackin’ Canuckleheads” podcast.
Hamilton has been sidelined since he was tangled up with Stars forward Mason Marchment in the first period of a 4-3 loss to Dallas on March 4.
Hamilton, 31, has 40 points (nine goals, 31 assists) in 63 games this season. He is competing in the fourth campaign of his seven-year, $63 million contract.
Hamilton has totaled 501 points (151 goals, 350 assists) in 834 career games with the Boston Bruins, Calgary Flames, Carolina Hurricanes and Devils.
Hamilton was selected by the Bruins with the ninth overall pick of the 2011 NHL draft.
Rafael Devers told reporters Thursday that he’s “good to do whatever” the Boston Red Sox want him to do, an indication that he’s willing to move away from third base and serve as the team’s designated hitter this season.
A switch of roles didn’t seem likely last month, when Devers balked at the idea at moving to DH in the wake of Boston signing Alex Bregman.
“Third base is my position,” Devers said then.
But the three-time All-Star said Thursday that he spoke with manager Alex Cora and chief baseball officer Craig Breslow a few weeks ago and told them “I’m good to do whatever they want me to do.
“I’m here to help,” he said through his interpreter, according to The Athletic. “I’ve already spoken with them about that and they know where I stand, but I’m just ready to play.
“I’m not going to share what we talked about here just because it would make me come off … those are private conversations. So I told them everything of my point of view, how I see things, and they know that.”
Devers has yet to appear in an official spring training game for Boston. It was supposed to happen Tuesday but got pushed back to this weekend. He battled soreness in both of his shoulders last season and spent the first couple of weeks of spring training trying to strengthen them ahead of the regular season.
He did play in an intrasquad game Thursday in Fort Myers, Florida, before he spoke with the media, and had a home run off new Red Sox starter Walker Buehler.
Asked if he expects to be ready for Opening Day against the Rangers on March 27 in Texas, Devers said: “I expect to be there.”
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