McDavid's Historic Burst Pushes Oilers to Best Start in Franchise History
Three players in league history had reached 30 points in 10 games or fewer: Gretzky, Lemieux and Bossy. Connor McDavid just became the fourth.
Connor McDavid is off to the best 10-game start of his career, and the numbers put him in the company of exactly three other players in NHL history: Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Mike Bossy.
The Edmonton Oilers captain reached 31 points through his first 10 games of the 2026-27 season, scoring twice and adding three assists — including the tying goal with the goalie pulled in the final two minutes — in a 6-5 shootout win over the defending Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes, according to an Associated Press account of the game. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, back from a lower-body injury suffered in training camp, scored the only shootout goal in his season debut and, at 33, became the franchise's all-time leader in seasons played with 16. Leon Draisaitl added two goals and three assists of his own.
A milestone-filled month
The hot streak traces back further than one shootout win. On October 13, McDavid recorded a goal and three assists in his 800th career NHL game, a 4-1 road win over the Los Angeles Kings, according to a recap posted on the league's official site. That night pushed his career totals to 1,237 points — 413 goals and 824 assists — third all-time behind only Gretzky and Lemieux, and made him the ninth player in NHL history to record at least 50 games with four or more points. Goaltender Devon Levi made 39 saves for his fourth straight win, becoming just the third goalie in franchise history to open his Oilers tenure 4-0.
Five days later, McDavid topped even that performance, piling up five points in a 6-2 win over the Utah Mammoth that extended his season-opening point streak, per the team's own recap footage. Coach Mike Babcock, not known for hyperbole, summed up the Kings game afterward: "I didn't think at any time we were fantastic tonight, but McDavid and the big boys were great," a line later picked up in national coverage of the milestone night.
Where the Oilers stand
The run has carried Edmonton to an 8-1-1 record through 10 games, its best 10-game start in franchise history, with seven wins in its last eight outings. The Oilers swept a three-game California road trip earlier in the month before coming home to beat Toronto and, now, Carolina. It's a sharp turnaround for a team that spent long stretches of the past two postseasons chasing — and twice losing — the Stanley Cup Final, and it has arrived despite a crowded Pacific Division that also includes Vegas and a Los Angeles club that, by contrast, has dropped five straight to open its own season.
None of it has come as a surprise to anyone tracking McDavid's pace: he entered October as the league's active leader in points per game and had already passed Jack Eichel for the outright scoring lead by mid-month.
What's next
Edmonton's homestand continues this week as the Oilers look to build separation atop the conference standings while McDavid chases the next round number on a career that, barring injury, is on pace to challenge scoring records that have stood for decades. Carolina, for its part, heads to St. Louis looking to avoid a third loss in four games as it defends its title.
