Connor McDavid becomes fourth active NHL player to score 60 goals in a season

For the second consecutive season, the NHL’s 60-goal club welcomes a new member.

With a two-goal game, including the winner in overtime, against the Arizona Coyotes on Wednesday night, Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid officially hit the mark. Here’s a look at the historic goal, which clinched a 4-3 win:

McDavid, 26, got goal no. 60 in his 72^nd game. That eclipses the 60 goals in 73 games by Toronto’s Auston Matthews last season to make McDavid the fastest to 60 this century – and the fastest since Mario Lemieux got to 60 in his 62^nd game in 1995-96. McDavid joins Matthews (2021-22), Steven Stamkos (2011-12) and Alex Ovechkin (2007-08) as the only NHLers to score 60 during the salary-cap era, and McDavid is the 22^nd member of the 60-goal club overall.

With 10 games remaining, McDavid is on pace for 68 goals. That would give him the highest single-season total since Lemieux’s 69 in 1995-96. The accolades keep coming during McDavid’s historic season. His 138 points have already beaten Nikita Kucherov’s 2018-19 total by 10 for the most in the cap era. McDavid leads the Art Ross race by 28 and is on pace for the widest margin of victory in 36 years. He’s on pace to become the only player other than Lemieux and Gretzky to exceed 155 points in a season. McDavid is a lock to win his sixth scoring title, which will equal Lemieux and Gordie Howe for the second most in NHL history.

Amid McDavid’s historic night, the Oilers further solidified their standing in the Western Conference playoff race with a fifth consecutive victory. With a 41-23-8 record and 90 points, they sit third in the Pacific Division, five points clear of the Seattle Kraken, who do have two games in hand. If the playoffs started today, Edmonton would meet the Los Angeles Kings in a rematch of last year’s first round.