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The Edmonton Oilers begin a three-game Eastern road trip on Saturday night at Scotiabank Arena against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

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PREVIEW: Oilers at Maple Leafs

TORONTO, ON – There was no doubt in his mind he would reach it on Thursday night.

Hitting 1,000 career points was always going to happen at home, said Connor McDavid, especially with his dad Brian amongst the 18,500 at Rogers Place who witnessed him make NHL history during Edmonton’s 3-2 overtime victory over Nashville on Thursday

In this context, he was, of course, speaking of Oil Country – his home for the last 10 NHL seasons and not his hometown of Toronto, where the Oilers open a three-game road trip on Saturday night at Scotiabank Arena against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Doing it anywhere else other than Rogers Place – where he’d produced 534 of his 999 career points coming into Thursday’s contest – just didn’t feel right, and the milestone moment arrived shortly after the second period had started.

“My dad made the trip today, so it was never not going to be tonight,” McDavid said post-game. “I had to make it happen and make his trip worthwhile. Otherwise, it would have been a long flight home for him tomorrow, so I wanted to make it worth his while and I was happy he was here.”

Leon Draisaitl always knew he would pass him the puck when he came in on a two-on-one with McDavid, choosing to sauce the puck over to his captain instead of it being the other way around. McDavid’s assisted on 192 of the German’s 359 career tallies, but there wouldn’t have been anything that would’ve stopped him from passing that puck.

This night was Connor’s night.

“He could’ve had three guys all over him and I would’ve still tried to get it to him,” Draisaitl said. “Every guy on our team would have done the same thing, and he deserves that. That just shows you how much we love him and how much we appreciate everything he does for our organization.”

After beating Nashville’s Scott Wedgewood with a quick shot, McDavid soaked in the moment, listening to the celebrations inside Rogers Place and pointing over to Draisaitl in appreciation before the rest of his Oilers teammates flooded onto the ice to congratulate him from the bench.

“Just seeing the way the players reacted, that means the world to me. It means everything to me,” McDavid said. “Seeing my teammates happy and hearing the fans, that stuff means more to me than any of the numbers or anything like that. So it was a really special moment, honestly, and these milestones – I said the other day – it’s a great time to reflect and look back, and it’s been a good ten years. Hopefully, ten more good ones.”

As the crowd cleared, the captain shared a long embrace with Draisaitl and Nurse – two teammates who, along with Nugent-Hopkins, have been there every step of the way.

“Yeah, it’s a special moment,” Draisaitl said. “I said it the other day, but this is legendary stuff. So to witness that, to be a part of it and having seen him grow up from when he was 18 when we first met him, it’s pretty amazing to be a part of.”

The Predators did end up forcing overtime, but it was McDavid once again coming up with the magic with a behind-the-back pass to Nurse for the game-winner. Nurse finished with two goals and an assist on his 20th goal set up by McDavid during his career, ending the game with the emphatic finish to cap off another terrific McDavid-inspired evening at Rogers Place.

“Some of these things have kind of hit me a little bit more emotionally than I would have thought,” McDavid said post-game. “You spend your whole life playing hockey and loving the game just wanting to play and make the NHL. A thousand points later, I’ve been doing it for 10 years now, and it’s pretty special.

“You take it for granted sometimes, and these moments give you a chance to look back and be grateful.”

After becoming the 99th player and the fourth-fastest in NHL history to reach 1,000 career points, it’s only natural to ask the question: will he be the second player other than Wayne Gretzky to reach 2,000 points?

“If not him, who else? That’s the only question,” Draisaitl said. “I never bet against Connor McDavid. I’ve learned that over the last 10 years and it wouldn’t surprise me.”