Connor McDavid's 300th Career Goal Was A Shorthanded Beauty That Carried Plenty Of Playoff Weight With It

Matt Fitzgerald3/31/2023 3:58 AM

I realize that a lot of guys on the "youngest to 300 goals" list in NHL history had excellent players around them, and Connor McDavid has a phenomenal Robin to his Batman in Leon Draisaitl. You just wonder how many more goals McDavid could score if he was left to his own devices, because while Draisaitl is perhaps the best passer in the sport, he's an elite goal-scorer in his own right.

What the fuck ever. After a while you struggle to contextualize how impressive Connor McDavid is that you have to brainstorm alternative angles of coverage and try to find new ways to articulate his greatness.

This was such a high-leverage moment. The Pacific Division and contention for the Western Conference's No. 1 seed hung in the balance. The Kings were pushing for a critical equalizer to potentially steal at least a point, maybe two, in Edmonton. Then, McDavid said...

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You saw all of McDavid's elite traits in one snapshot. Had you not seen him play before, it was all on display in this flash of brilliance. No question he's improved as a two-way player in recent years, and that's what sparked the breakaway. But in order to create that golden scoring chance, McDavid needed some quick-witted stickhandling, a filthy deke and his unmatched, zero-to-60 acceleration to pull away from Los Angeles' outmatched defenders.

From there, any goaltender would be pissing down his leg. Imagine the swell of a raucous Oilers crowd roaring in anticipation as McDavid SCREEEEEEAMS down the ice by his lonesome. You know it's coming. Not a single one of your blue-liner teammates is anywhere to be found to help you. They've been fucking dusted on the other end and are still looking for their various crotch paddings.

Poor Kings netminder Joonas Korpisalo. It's pretty much going to be an "operator error" situation if McDavid's going to miss there. As he has many times before, though, McDavid ripped it in the back of the net. Too quick. Too savvy. Too good of a shot. SIXTY-ONE goals on the season. It's simply not fair.

Korpisalo stood on his head for most of the night. Made 37 saves on the road against the freaking Oilers. Most nights that'd be good enough to get a win.

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Sorry Michael Buble. I know you're a Canucks fan. I grew up a Leafs guy. It's a fitting Canadian GIF choice. That's all. Anyway, be thankful that McDavid is almost single-handedly keeping the NHL on the map south of the border here in the States.

Anyway, McDavid is a beast. Water is wet. Yada yada yada. Look at this freaking playoff race in the West:

It doesn't get much better than that.

And shout the fuck out to Oilers backstop Stuart Skinner. He pitched a 43-save shutout tonight (baseball allusion in honor of MLB Opening Day). That's called being clutch. Los Angeles brought on an extra attacker late. Even with a shot ringing off the post, it was remarkable to watch how impenetrable Skinner was.

Please, Stuart Skinner. Give us one of those sick, out-of-relatively-nowhere goalie postseason hot streaks. We need McDavid and Draisaitl to go deep again. In that Wild Wild West you cna see above, a case can be made for any of the top teams to represent the conference in the Stanley Cup Final. As a mostly impartial observer, I know who I'm rooting for from a pure entertainment standpoint.