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Gretzky: McDavid's goal vs. Leafs 'brought me out of my seat'

Mark Blinch / National Hockey League / Getty

Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid lit the hockey world on fire Monday night by scoring arguably the prettiest goal of his career in a 6-4 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Among those blown away by McDavid's individual effort was Wayne Gretzky, who was in the building - but no longer in his chair - as No. 97 lit the lamp in his hometown for the first time.

"He brought me out of my seat," Gretzky told NHL.com's Mike Zeisberger. "I've told him before that he does that to me. And he did that tonight.

"It was one of those special moments by a special player."

McDavid's teammates couldn't believe what they had witnessed either.

"It's him," Oilers forward Gaetan Haas told The Athletic's Jonathan Willis while shaking his head. "It's just ... there is one. One Connor McDavid."

"That's just Connor," Alex Chiasson added. "You could tell tonight he was playing with an edge, and that might be the nicest goal I've seen. Just pure skill."

Predictably, McDavid wasn't as enthused as his peers when asked how he pulled off the move.

"I'm not going to give up any of my secrets," he replied. "So I just tried to make a play."

The goal was the cherry on top of a dominant four-point night for McDavid, which brought his season total to a league-leading 69 points through 45 games.

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