FIRST PERIOD
2026 was still a few hours away, but what a way to cap off the final first period of 2025 if you’re Connor McDavid.
Witnessing some ‘McDavid Magic’ on New Year’s Eve has almost become synonymous with the holiday, and this year was no different after the Oilers captain was able to cap off the opening 20 minutes with a fantastic solo move and assist to set up his linemate Zach Hyman and cut into Boston’s lead.
The opening power play for the Oilers less than four minutes into the period became a five-on-three man advantage for the Bruins almost two minutes later, which saw David Pastrnak bank it in from below the goal line on Connor Ingram in the seconds after Hyman came out of the box from serving the first minor.
Goaltender Jeremy Swayman was proving to be hard to beat early for McDavid and the Oilers, with No. 97 being stopped on a breakaway by the glove of the Bruins’ netminder on his first major chance on the six-minute mark.
On their next power play, McDavid had another golden opportunity off the rush with speed when the puck went through the legs of defenceman Jonathan Aspirot and led to an in-close attempt that he tried to slide five-hole, but was once again stopped by Swayman before his follow-up sat loose in the crease.
“He gets a lot of those,” Roslovic said. “Sometimes he doesn’t score. He’s human, but the plays he makes, I think we had 40-some shots, so the goalie played pretty well tonight.”
The Bruins made it 2-0 on a clean look for Casey Mittelstadt from the left circle with 1:47 left before the intermission, but there was still time for McDavid to orchestrate another one of his magic moments on New Year’s Eve to cap off the opening frame & extend his incredible run of production in December.
