Canada’s McDavid sets points record at single Olympics with NHL players

Canada forward Connor McDavid (97) warms up prior to first period Men's Olympic semifinal ice hockey action at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics in Milan, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

Connor McDavid set a record for most points in a single Olympic tournament involving NHL players with two assists in Canada’s 3-2 semifinal win over Finland on Friday.

McDavid registered his record-breaking 12th point of the Milan Cortina Games with a secondary assist on Sam Reinhart’s power-play goal to cut Finland’s lead to 2-1 in the second period.

The Edmonton Oilers superstar then set up Nathan MacKinnon’s winning goal with 35.2 seconds remaining to push his total to 13 and send Canada into Sunday’s gold-medal game.

McDavid, who wore the “C” Friday after captain Sidney Crosby was ruled out with a lower-body injury, has two goals and 11 assists partway through five games in Milan.

He eclipsed the previous mark set by Finnish forwards Teemu Selanne and Saku Koivu, who both registered 11 points at the 2006 Turin Games.

Selanne still holds the career NHL-era Olympic record with 32 points. Crosby holds the Canadian NHL-attended Games record with 16.

McDavid is making his Olympic debut after the NHL skipped the 2018 and 2022 Games.

A generational talent, the 29-year-old from Newmarket, Ont., has won the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL’s leading scorer five times. He has 1,178 points (395 goals, 783 assists) in 770 career contests — a per-game rate exceeded only by Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux.

Canada is looking to punch its ticket to the gold-medal game after the country’s NHL players topped the podium in 2002, 2010 and 2014.

The United States and Slovakia face off in the other semifinal later Friday at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena. The bronze-medal game is scheduled for Saturday, followed by Sunday’s matchup for gold.

By Daniel Rainbird