Oilers captain Connor McDavid set the NHL record for most assists in a single postseason, picking up his 32nd on Saturday night during Edmonton's 8-1 win over the visiting Florida Panthers in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final.
McDavid broke the record previously held by Hall of Fame center Wayne Gretzky, who led the Oilers to four Stanley Cup titles in his tenure in Edmonton. Gretzky posted 31 assists in the 1988 postseason.
The Oilers' victory trimmed their Final deficit to 3-1 and also featured McDavid's first goal of the series. He finished with three assists, and four points, as Edmonton forced a Game 5 on Tuesday in Sunrise, Florida.
"Very high, just because of what was at stake," Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said, when asked where this performance ranks on his list of great nights for McDavid. "An elimination game, here in the Final, he just continues to impress everyone, quite a night for him to set the record, and we're obviously very happy for him to be part of that. But yeah, he just keeps on making plays and scoring goals, making assists, whatever, but yeah, it was a great performance."
McDavid now has 38 points this postseason, the most by an active player in a single postseason and tied for fifth most ever. He has 23 points in games following a loss this postseason, passing Doug Gilmour (20 in 1993) for the most in one playoff year.
All told Saturday, he helped to ignite an offense that had shown serious signs of wear and tear earlier in the series.
"It's just one win," McDavid said. "That's all it is. It doesn't matter if you score eight or if you score one. It's just one win, and we've got to go to Florida and do a job and drag them back to Alberta."
Along the way, McDavid also became the first player since 1987 to record four points in a Stanley Cup Final game when facing elimination. And he did so on a night when the intimidating power-play unit that he's on delivered a goal in six tries.
"We've had lots of looks over the first four games, certainly created enough to have a couple go in," Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl said. "It's just not the way the game works sometimes. I'm just proud of the way we always stick with it, continue to work at it and stay work based. Hopefully we can build off that a little bit."
Information from ESPN Stats & Information was used in this report.