McDavid, Draisaitl Each Post 5 Points as EDM Survives in OT
Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl each finished with 2 goals and 3 assists — 5 points apiece — as Edmonton outlasted Carolina 6-5 in overtime on October 23. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins sealed it with a wrist shot in the shootout period to give Edmonton the win after one of the wilder 60-minute stretches you'll see this season.
Edmonton drew first blood at 8:07 of the first when Draisaitl tipped home his 9th goal of the season, with McDavid picking up the assist. Carolina answered quickly — Jackson Blake cut it to 1-1 at 10:30, then Sebastian Aho put the Hurricanes ahead just 30 seconds into the second period with a backhand finish. That's when the game appeared to slip away from Edmonton. Carolina pushed the lead to 4-2 by the end of the second, with Seth Jarvis and Logan Stankoven both converting wrist shots to make it a two-goal cushion heading to the third.
What happened next looks, in hindsight, like one of the more remarkable third-period swings of the early season. McDavid scored 26 seconds in — a snap shot, assisted by Draisaitl — to make it 4-3. Less than two and a half minutes later, Draisaitl wired home his 10th of the year to tie it at 4. Carolina refused to fold: Juuso Valimaki snapped home his first of the season at 17:20 to put the Hurricanes back in front 5-4. Edmonton had 72 seconds to respond or go home with nothing. McDavid delivered, deflecting home his 8th goal of the year with 88 seconds left — Draisaitl picking up his 11th assist of the night — to force overtime at 5-5.
Nugent-Hopkins finished it in the extra session with a wrist shot, capping a 6-5 Edmonton victory. The story of the night was the sheer volume of elite production from two players on the same line: McDavid and Draisaitl combining for 10 points in a single game is the kind of output that makes the rest of the league uncomfortable. Devon Levi made 22 saves on 27 shots for Edmonton; Brandon Bussi stopped 16 of 21 for Carolina. Neither goaltender had a night to remember, but given the firepower on display, that's hardly a surprise. Carolina's Sebastian Aho chipped in a goal and an assist, and Shayne Gostisbehere had two assists, but it wasn't enough to hold a two-goal lead against a team that appears to have no intention of staying down.