EDMONTON, AB – It seemed inevitable that McDavid would make Thursday night a milestone occasion.

And it certainly was.

The Oilers captain crossed 1,000 career points on Thursday with a goal and assist in Edmonton’s 3-2 overtime victory over Nashville, reaching the historic mark with the tying goal in the second period before he capped off his milestone evening at Rogers Place with an incredible no-look pass to Darnell Nurse on the game-winner 2:27 into overtime.

McDavid became the 99th player and the fourth fastest in NHL history to reach the milestone, accomplishing the feat in his 659th career NHL game by converting a one-timer past goaltender Scott Wedgewood on an odd-man rush with Leon Draisaitl three minutes into the second period.

After the Predators tied the game late in regulation, McDavid set up Nurse in overtime with a blind backhand pass that his teammate buried for his second goal of the game, earning the Oilers the extra point and completing the season sweep of Nashville with their third victory over the Predators this campaign.

Nurse had two goals and an assist in the victory, while Leon Draisaitl had two assists to help McDavid reach 1,000 career points and improve Edmonton’s overall record to 9-7-1 this season with their second straight overtime win.

With McDavid’s milestone reached, the Oilers will now embark on an Eastern Canada road trip where they’ll play the Maple Leafs (Nov. 16), Canadiens (Nov. 18) and Senators (Nov. 19).

FIRST PERIOD

McDavid’s milestone watch nearly ended before it even began, but a terrific opening chance from the captain only 35 seconds into the game put all of Oil Country and the hockey world on watch – that’s if their eyes weren’t already locked on Edmonton’s leader.

It took mere moments for McDavid to get his first crack at hitting 1,000 points when he earned an opportunity to jam home the milestone marker at the near post when Scott Wedgewood slid too far out of the Nashville crease, leaving him an opening to exploit before he attacked it from below the goal line.

The Oilers & their captain then had a look with the man advantage before the five-minute mark that they failed to convert before the Predators managed to pull ahead on their first shot on goal against Calvin Pickard, who didn’t have much of a chance to track a Michael McCarron deflection from the top of the circles.

Defenceman Roman Josi picked out Nashville’s fourth-line centre with a slap-pass that was redirected perfectly over Pickard’s left shoulder from the slot for the 1-0 lead, solving the netminder on their first shot 8:22 into the opening frame after the Oilers had controlled the majority of the start to Thursday’s game.

Minutes later, Filip Forsberg struck the opposite post from the left circle in a near-miss for the Oilers, who trailed 1-0 through 20 minutes after the Nashville sniper’s chance just missed making it a two-goal game.

SECOND PERIOD

McDavid’s 1,000th NHL point arrived three minutes into the middle frame when he barrelled down the ice on an odd-man rush with none other than Leon Draisaitl, who combined with his other half of the Dynamic Duo for the 445th separate time during their careers by setting up his captain to score the milestone marker.

Darnell Nurse took advantage of a wayward pass from Jonathan Marchessault near the Nashville bench by moving the puck up ice to Draisaitl, who had momentary thoughts about shooting on the two-on-one before he passed it off to McDavid for a quick one-timer past Wedgewood for his 1,000th point.

McDavid becomes the 99th player in League history to reach 1,000 points, accomplishing the feat in only 659 games – making him the fourth-fastest player to reach the mark ahead of Peter Stastny (682) and trailing only Wayne Gretzky, (424), Mario Lemieux (513), and Mike Bossy (656).

The captain was mobbed by his teammates after they flooded off the Oilers bench in acknowledgement of the historic moment before he shared a lengthy embrace with long-time teammates Draisaitl and Nurse in the corner as Rogers Place stood in ovation of what he just accomplished.

The Oilers rolled on for the rest of the period and outshot the Predators 15-4, turning the momentum from McDavid’s milestone marker into a 2-1 lead before the intermission courtesy of a snipe from Darnell Nurse that came just 2:44 later.

Following an Oilers zone entry, Brett Kulak came off the Oilers bench and took a lay-off pass from Mattias Janmark before he moved it quickly to the far side for Nurse, who walked down into the left circle and caught Wedgewood off guard with a wicked release that nestled into the top echelon of Nashville’s net from a tight angle.

Nurse’s tally was his first goal this season and went along with his assist on McDavid’s 1,000th point to make it eight points (1G, 7A) in 17 games for the Hamilton product, who also increased his totals against Nashville in recent games to 13 points (3G, 10A) over their last 13 meetings.

THIRD PERIOD

The Predators were out to spoil the party.

With the Oilers trying to see out the final minutes with their one-goal lead intact, Nashville was able to counter up the ice quickly off a feed from Zachary L’Heureux in his own end to Craig Smith, who found space in the neutral zone to rush towards Edmonton’s crease against two back-tracking Oilers before he squeaked the equalizer five-hole under Pickard with 2:48 left in regulation.

Overtime would be needed, and there was still plenty of magic left on McDavid’s stick for the game-winning goal in the extra frame, where the captain would amaze once again with his 1,001st career point that’d result in the Oilers adding an extra point in the standings.

OVERTIME

It was simply an incredible finish to an amazing night for McDavid and the Oilers.

McDavid was late to arrive on the play in extra time that resulted in Nurse’s game-winning goal, with the Oilers captain exchanging a pass with Draisaitl inside the blueline before he dangled his way into the slot and sent the perfect no-look pass to Nurse in the right circle.

Nurse nestled his effort past Wedgewood into the left side of Nashville’s net, securing his team the extra point on his second goal of the game that arrived at 2:37 of the extra period.