EDMONTON — Wayne Gretzky’s statue is one of the first things you see when you approach the front of Rogers Place. The sculpture depicts the NHL’s all-time points leader hoisting the Stanley Cup over his head.
Connor McDavid knows it’s there. And most importantly, he knows how significant the man it portrays was and is to the franchise, the city and the sport.
So for the Edmonton Oilers captain to break one of The Great One’s all-time records is a pretty big deal, even if McDavid himself wants to downplay the accomplishment.
“It’s not lost on me what he means to the game,” McDavid said of Gretzky. “But it’s not the focus right now.”
No, what is for McDavid and his teammates is the chance to play another day, which they earned with an 8-1 victory against the Florida Panthers in Game 4 of the best-of-7 Stanley Cup Final on Saturday.
The Oilers still face a daunting task ahead. They trail the Panthers 3-1 with the series shifting back to Florida for Game 5 on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; ABC, ESPN+, SN, TVAS, CBC). In order to win the Stanley Cup, the Oilers will have to win four consecutive games, a feat only accomplished in the Cup Final by the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs.
For his part, McDavid cares little that it has only been done once in 82 years. Or about individual marks he might smash along the way.
But the fact that he surpassed Gretzky for the most assists in a single postseason with 32, thanks to a four-point game (one goal, three assists), showed his leadership skills on a night when his team’s season was on the brink.
