WATCH: Which Connor McDavid goal was better?
Few players have the game-breaking ability that Connor McDavid does. In just a flash, he can flip a game on its head in favor of his Edmonton Oilers.
Once again, McDavid put that skill to the test.
Thursday night’s game against the Winnipeg Jets was no different. He took a pass from defenseman Cody Ceci exiting the Oilers zone and after a few short strides, he picked apart the smallest skating mistake by Jets forward Adam Lowry and cut to the center of the ice.
As he entered the offensive, he immediately challenged Lowry as well as defensemen Dylan DeMelo and Logan Stanley. A quick move bounced him to the right of Stanley as he dangled through the trio and McDavid drove right towards Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck roofing the puck over his blocker.
The most impressive part? It came in the back half of the third period 34 seconds after the Jets broke a 0-0 tie.
connor mcdavid with some absolute fifth and this game is tied up at 1 pic.twitter.com/y0AY2tW4yb
— zach laing (@zjlaing) November 19, 2021
connor mcdavid with the goal of the year and it’s a 5-5 game in edmonton! pic.twitter.com/ErPUvM4ZXQ
— zach laing (@zjlaing) November 6, 2021
“He’s a pretty special player. You can put him with a handful of guys in the league that are dominant like that,” said Oilers head coach Dave Tippett Thursday night. “I was fortunate to play a year with Mario Lemieux, and you saw some things like that out of him.
“The thing that makes it unbelievable is the timing which (McDavid) does it. Two of his highlight goals this year are ultimately important goals. That’s just what he does.”
That other timely goal came just two weeks prior when he danced the New York Rangers to send tie the game at 5 and send it to overtime.
He carried the puck through the neutral zone making a quick, dashing cut to the middle of the ice, right where four Rangers defenders stood. It only took three moves with the puck on his stick to break through the four before faking a forehand shot and sliding the puck to his backhand where he beat Rangers goaltender Alexandar Georgiev.
Both goals were incredibly impressive not for the moves he made, but for the time of game at which he did it.
So we ask you: which goal was better?
Which McDavid goal do you think was more impressive?
— Daily Faceoff (@DailyFaceoff) November 19, 2021Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@oilersnation.com.