The Art Ross Trophy, given to the player with the most points at the end of an NHL season, is going to going down to the final day of the season, on April 18, it appears. Three of the biggest stars in the game have been battling for superiority for much of the season. Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers has won each of the past three scoring races and has won the Art Ross five times in his nine-season NHL career. Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning, in his 10th NHL season, won the Art Ross in 2018-19. Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche, playing his 11th season, has yet to lead the League in scoring.
We’ll chart this race each day for the remainder of the season in the Art Ross Tracker.
The Race
Nathan MacKinnon — 127 points (47 goals, 80 assists)
Nikita Kucherov — 126 points (42 goals, 84 assists)
Connor McDavid — 125 points (29 goals, 96 assists)
The Skinny
MacKinnon: The Avalanche forward had two goals and two assists in a 7-4 win against the Nashville Predators on Saturday, one game after seeing his home point streak from the start of the season end at 35 games in a 3-2 shootout loss to the New York Rangers on Thursday. He had 77 points (29 goals, 48 assists) during his home streak, the second-longest in NHL history behind Wayne Gretzky‘s 40 games for the Los Angeles Kings in 1988-89.
Games remaining: 8
Next game: Monday at Columbus Blue Jackets (6 p.m. ET; BSOH, ALT)
Kucherov: The Lightning forward had two assists in a 4-1 victory against the New York Islanders on Saturday and has points in 15 of his past 16 games, including five with at least three. Kucherov has 45 points more than any other player on the Lightning. Forward Brayden Point is second with 81.
Games remaining: 9
Next game: Monday vs. Detroit Red Wings (7 p.m. ET; BSDETX, BSSUN)
McDavid: The Oilers captain had three points (two goals, one assist) in a 6-1 victory against the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday and is riding a seven-game point streak (four goals, 15 assists). Since Jan. 29, McDavid leads the League with 58 points (nine goals, 49 assists) in 27 games. That is 15 points more than MacKinnon in that period and 17 more than Kucherov.
Games remaining: 10
Next game: Monday at St. Louis Blues (9 p.m. ET; ESPN+, HULU, SNOL)
THEY SAID IT
“It’s nice, I guess; it’s a position I’ve been in many times before. We’re playing for things bigger than that. We’re playing to make sure our game is in order and we’re still playing for positioning. Lots of hockey left — 10 games left — you never know what can happen down the stretch and we’ll see what happens.” — McDavid after the game against the Ducks.
