EDMONTON -- Connor McDavid needs four points to reach 100 this season and the Edmonton Oilers center can get there Saturday against the Vancouver Canucks (10 p.m. ET; NHLN, CBS, SN, TVAS, NHL.TV).
"I think we're all rooting for him, it's a pretty cool record to have and it's no surprise that he's been doing it," Oilers defenseman Ethan Bear said Friday. "He's been unbelievable to watch this year, and his work ethic and dedication to the game has been great. I think we're all rooting for him and hope he gets it, and I'm sure he will."
McDavid leads the NHL with 96 points (31 goals, 65 assists). He is 19 points ahead of teammate Leon Draisaitl (77 points) and 30 points ahead of Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mitchell Marner (66), who is third.
McDavid had three assists in a 6-3 loss to the Canucks on Thursday. He has scored 27 points (eight goals, 19 assists) in his past 10 games and 17 points (seven goals, 10 assists) in eight games against the Canucks this season.
"He doesn't really talk about it, he just goes out and plays his game," Oilers forward Ryan McLeod said. "He's been on an absolute tear, so it's been a lot of fun to be a part of that. I think for him, it's more about winning. It would obviously be really nice for him to do it, we're all rooting for him and trying to help him out to get there. I think at the end of the day, we're all here to make a playoff run and that's kind of everyone's main goal right now."
Edmonton (32-18-2) clinched a Stanley Cup Playoff berth with a 5-3 win at Vancouver on Monday. The Oilers, who have four games remaining in this 56-game season, are second in the Scotia North Division, eight points behind the Maple Leafs and seven points ahead of the Winnipeg Jets. The top four teams qualify for the playoffs.
"Our focus is a lot more on our team and preparing our team and making sure we're playing well, especially after last night's game where we didn't feel like we started well and we didn't play well," Edmonton coach Dave Tippett said. "Everybody understands where Connor is on that (100 points), but I think Connor will be the first one to tell you it's about the team and what the team is doing to prepare, and he'll do his part."
McDavid will play his 53rd game Saturday, It took him 66 games to score 100 points during the 2018-19 season (34 goals, 66 assists). He finished that season with his NHL career-high 116 (41 goals, 75 assists) in 78 games played.
It took him 77 games to score 100 in 2017-18 (when he scored 108 in 82 games), and took him 82 games in 2016-17.
His scoring rate of 1.85 points per game this season would generate 151 points in a traditional 82-game schedule.
"It's pretty incredible, I've never even played with a player close to his caliber, it's been a lot of fun to watch," McLeod said. "He's a great guy in the room, he's been helping me in the games and it's been a lot of fun to play with him and it's pretty special the year he's having."
McDavid scored 97 points (34 goals, 63 assists) last season, when he played 64 of Edmonton's 71 games.
The No. 1 pick in the 2015 NHL Draft, he has scored 565 points (193 goals, 372 assists) in 403 regular-season games. He has scored at least 30 goals and 93 points in each of his past five NHL seasons and has been first or second in scoring every season since 2016-17.
"It seems like he's always been a real, good goal-scorer to me, but it seems last summer he worked on a lot of parts of his game," Tippett said. "He wanted to become a better shooter, he's taken more shots this year and he looks to beat goalies now, and he's got a really quick release; a deceiving release. There are not a lot of faults in his game, you can find lots of good spots."
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