Oilers’ 1,000-Point Club: Gretzky, Kurri and Messier’s Historic Moments – The Hockey Writers Edmonton Oilers Latest News, Analysis & More

With his next goal or assist, Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid will have 1,000 career NHL regular season points. After recording a goal and three assists in Edmonton’s 4-3 overtime victory over the New York Islanders on Tuesday (Nov. 12), McDavid is sitting on 999 points.

Related: 3 Takeaways From the Oilers’ Overtime Victory Against the Islanders

The 27-year-old will become the fourth-youngest player to reach 1,000 points, behind only Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, and Steve Yzerman. McDavid, who has played 658 regular season games, will get to 1,000 points in the fourth-fewest number of games, after Gretzky, Lemieux, and Mike Bossy.

He’ll also become the fourth player to record 1,000 points as a member of the Oilers, alongside Gretzky, Jari Kurri, and Mark Messier. So with McDavid on the verge of joining Edmonton’s 1,000-point club, here’s a look back at the moment it happened for each of the other three members:

Wayne Gretzky

On Dec. 19, 1984, “The Great One” reached 1,000 points quicker than anyone else in NHL history, a benchmark that still stands four decades later.

Edmonton was hosting the Los Angeles Kings at Northlands Coliseum in what was Gretzky’s 424^th career game. No. 99 came into the game with 999 points and wasted little time pushing that total into four-digit territory.

Just 1:41 into the first period, Gretzky fed a pass to Oilers forward Mike Krushelnyski, who put the puck behind Kings netminder Darren Eliot. Gretzky was credited with an assist on Krushelnyski’s goal, shattering the record for fewest games to reach 1,000 points. The record had been 720 games, held by Guy Lafleur.

Gretzky was just getting started that night. He went on to score twice and pick up three more assists for a six-point night in a 7-4 victory for the Oilers.

Jari Kurri

During Edmonton’s very first game of the 1990s, Kurri became the very first Finnish player to record 1,000 career NHL regular season points.

Kurri had totalled 997 points in 715 career games when the Oilers took the ice at St. Louis Arena to take on the St. Louis Blues on Jan. 2, 1990. He recorded point No. 998 by scoring a goal in the second period, then picked up his 999^th point with an assist on a goal by fellow Finn Esa Tikkanen early in the third period.

With the Oilers leading 5-4 and just over two minutes remaining, it looked like history might have to wait for another game. But then Blues centre Rick Meagher took a high-sticking penalty.

On the ensuing Edmonton power-play, Kurri passed to Tikkanen, who scored at exactly 18:00 of the third period to help his countryman become the first 1,000-point player from their homeland. It was a fittingly Finnish finish to a 6-4 Oilers victory.

Mark Messier

Both Messier and Oilers teammate Glenn Anderson came into Edmonton’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers at The Spectrum on Jan. 13, 1991, on the verge of an incredible individual milestone. They would each take their respective place in history on the same play.

After receiving the puck from Messier, the speedy Anderson scored at 5:25 of the third period, tying the game 3-3. The assist gave Messier 1,000 career points, while the goal was No. 400 for Anderson.  

Less than five minutes later, Messier and Anderson each assisted on a goal by Tikkanen that put the Oilers ahead 4-3. Then at 19:01 of the third period, Tikkanen sealed the win for Edmonton by scoring into an empty net, with Messier and Anderson again picking up assists.

To this date, Anderson, Gretzky and Kurri are the only players to score at least 400 times during the regular season in an Oilers uniform. Messier sits fourth in franchise history with 392 goals as an Oiler.

McDavid can join the 1,000-point club tonight (Nov. 14), when Edmonton hosts the Nashville Predators at Rogers Place. Should that happen, he would become the first Oilers player to score his 1,000^th career point on home ice since Gretzky nearly 40 years ago.

If not, one of the NHL’s most historic accomplishments will happen in one of its most historic cities: After hosting Nashville, the Oilers hit the road, where they will play the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday (Nov. 16) and the Montreal Canadiens on Monday (Nov. 18).