McDavid hits 100 points, Ducks clinch NHL Pacific title

AFP News

10 April 2017 at 2:11 am

Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers celebrates his 100th point on an assist against the Vancouver Canucks, at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, on April 9, 2017

Jordan Eberle of the Edmonton Oilers takes a shot against the Vancouver Canucks, at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, on April 9, 2017

Henrik Zetterberg of the Detroit Red Wings salutes the fans after their 4-1 win over the New Jersey Devils, at the final NHL game to be played at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan, on April 9, 2017

Connor McDavid reached the 100-point mark and Jordan Eberle delivered a hat trick as the Edmonton Oilers dumped the Vancouver Canucks 5-2 in the 2016-17 NHL season's final regular-season game. McDavid recorded his 69th and 70th assists to go with 30 goals in 82 games as the 20-year-old Canadian forward becomes the sixth youngest player to hit 100 points behind the likes of Hall of Famers Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and superstar Sidney Crosby. "He has been amazing. It is the least we can do for him," said teammate Leon Draisaitl, who scored one of the Oilers goals on a pass from McDavid. As the Oilers were winning in Edmonton on Sunday night, the Anaheim Ducks (46-23-13) beat the Los Angeles Kings in overtime to clinch first place in the division. The Oilers (47-26-9) finished with 103 points and will play the San Jose Sharks (46-29-7) in the first round of the playoffs Wednesday, with Edmonton having home-ice advantage. Eberle got his hat trick just 31 seconds into the third, firing home a pass from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to make it 4-1. McDavid then took centre stage as he becomes the first Oilers player since Doug Weight in 1995-96 to hit the 100-point mark. The crowd roared with chants of "MVP! MVP!" as McDavid set up German forward Draisaitl to make it 5-1. McDavid also earned the Art Ross Trophy as the league's top scorer. "The excitement was immense," said Oilers coach Todd McLelland of watching McDavid go for 100 points. Elsewhere, Shea Theodore scored 53 seconds into overtime to give the Anaheim Ducks the Pacific Division title with a 4-3 win over the Los Angeles Kings. Nate Thompson scored his first goal of the season to tie it with 8:26 to play to set the stage for Theodore's game winner for the Ducks who clinched their fifth consecutive Pacific Division crown. The Ducks are the seventh team in NHL history to win five consecutive division titles. Captain Ryan Getzlaf delivered three assists and Patrick Eaves, Antoine Vermette and Nate Thompson each scored for the Ducks. Goalie Jonathan Bernier stopped 15 shots by the Kings who failed to make the playoffs. Anaheim (46-23-13) will open the postseason Thursday at home against the Calgary Flames (45-33-4). The Ducks have won 25 consecutive regular-season home games against Flames -- the longest such streak in NHL history. "It is a clean slate now. It is one game at a time. We need to review our season as individuals and get ready," said forward Andrew Cogliano. - Stylish exit from 'The Joe' - Meanwhile, the Detroit Red Wings said so long to Joe Louis Arena on Sunday closing out their time there in style with a 4-1 win over the New Jersey Devils. Swedish forward Henrik Zetterberg, playing in his 1,000th NHL game, had a goal and an assist in front of a crowd of 20,027 at "The Joe", which will be replaced by the new Little Caesars Arena for the 2017-18 season. Forward Riley Sheahan scored his first two goals of the season and Tomas Tatar also scored for the Red Wings. Sheahan's second goal of the night on a Detroit power play with 2:33 left in the third period closed the books on scoring at the Joe. "It's pretty cool," Sheahan said. "There's a lot of things I'll remember in my career, and it's definitely one of them." That Sheahan scored at all was big news. Entering the game, he was scoreless through the 79 games this season, and he was one game away from becoming the first forward in league history to register 100 shots on goal and not score. Zetterberg, playing his 1,000th NHL game, also added an assist and felt the night had a storybook quality to it. "When you picture the last game at the Joe -- except if it would have been game seven of the Stanley Cup final -- this was very nice," Zetterberg said. Dozens of former Red Wings players took part in the postgame closing ceremonies. Tampa Bay Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman, Detroit's captain from 1986-2006, described Joe Louis Arena as being "beautiful in its simplicity." The Red Wings were eliminated from playoff contention in March, ending their 25-season streak of competing in the post-season.