Coach Jay Woodcroft says Captain Connor McDavid is the driving force behind the Edmonton Oilers' push for a place in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The Oilers, 17/1 to win the Stanley Cup, beat the Los Angeles Kings 3-2 on Thursday to complete a three-game sweep of California and win a sixth straight game.
Over their past 15 games, the Oilers have gone 12-2-1 and lead the Kings by three points for second place in the Pacific Division with ten games remaining in the regular season.
McDavid sets new personal mark
McDavid scored a career-high 42nd goal against the Kings and stretched his personal point streak to 15 games (29 points; 13 goals, 16 assists).
McDavid leads the NHL in points for a second season in a row (108; 42 goals, 66 assists in 71 games).
The first-overall draft pick of the Oilers in 2015, was unanimously named the Hart Trophy winner as the NHL's MVP last season after registering a sensational 105 points (33 goals, 72 assists) in 56 games.
Over his seven seasons in the NHL, McDavid has amassed 682 points (237 goals, 445 assists) in 478 regular season appearances.
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Woodcroft took over the Oilers' head coach role after Dave Tippett was fired following a run of 7-13-3 after a franchise best ever start (16-5-0).
Woodcroft said about McDavid after the win over Los Angeles: "He's driving us forward, sure, with his offence, but he's also driving it with his attention to detail on the defensive side of things.
"When your captain does that, and when the leading scorer in the National Hockey League commits to playing like that, I think it resonates with the rest of the group and becomes a contagious type attitude."
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