NHL: Connor McDavid’s 300th goal, on a shorthanded breakaway

Conor McDavid scored his 300th NHL goal Thursday night in a 2-0 win over the Los Angeles Kings.

Early in the third period, McDavid capitalized on a blunder by Sean Durzi, Edmonton played man short, and ran off Joonas Korpisalo, who beat him to the tackle side.

It was the No. 97 Oilers’ 61st goal of the season, an eight-goal lead over his closest pursuer, David Pasternak, of the Boston Bruins.

McDavid then gave his club a 2-0 lead in this duel allowing the Albertans to pass a point ahead of the Kings in the Pacific Division standings.

However, the Californian line-up has another game to play.

The Oilers star is the third-fastest player to reach 300 goals among active skaters, in 563 games, which puts him behind Alex Ovechkin (473) and Stephen Stamkos (550).

Stewart Skinner was also a key player in Alberta’s victory, stopping 43 pucks for his first shutout of the season, and second in 60 NHL championships.

At the other end of the ice, Corbesalo didn’t have much to blame himself for. The Finnish goalkeeper has been tested 37 times.

Evander Kane scored the Oilers’ other goal at 19:08 of the first period. On that goal, Leon Draistel added his 70th assist to his tally.

Kane himself scored the 300th goal at the Bateman Arena in his final game on Tuesday.

With six games left on the Oilers’ schedule, McDavid’s 144 points are 27 ahead of Dricetel and 40 ahead of third-place Nikita Kucherov.