McDavid reaches 500 assists, Oilers beat Islanders 4-2

By The Associated Press on January 5, 2023.

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) – Connor McDavid set up power-play and short-handed goals in the first period to reach 500 career assists in the Edmonton Oilers’ 4-2 victory over the New York Islanders on Thursday night.

McDavid reached 500 assists in 527 games. Only five players in NHL history have done it faster – Wayne Gretzky (352), Mario Lemieux (433), Peter Stastny (507) and Bobby Orr (522).

Jack Campbell made 20 saves to help the Oilers (21-17-2) end a two-game losing streak and five-game home slide. Leon Draisaitl had a goal and his 400th assist, Kailer Yamamoto, Dylan Holloway and Zach Hyman also scored and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had two assists.

Mathew Barzal and Cal Clutterbuck scored for New York and Ilya Sorokin stopped 34 shots. The Islanders have dropped two of three to fall to 22-16-2.

Draisaitl opened the scoring midway through the first on a power play. McDavid sent the puck across to Draisaitl for a one-timer past the stick-less Sorokin.

Yamamoto made it 2-0 with 1:20 left in the period with a short-handed goal. McDavid passed to Yamamoto, who waited for defenseman Noah Dobson to go down before beating Sorokin through the legs. That gave McDavid assist No. 500 with his 42nd of the season.

UP NEXT

Islanders: At Calgary on Friday night.

Oilers: Host Colorado on Saturday night.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

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