Oilers’ Evan Bouchard becomes the third-fastest defenceman ever to reach 50 career playoff points

Stop me if you heard this one before, but Evan Boucard just broke another playoff record.

As the Oilers were getting a good cycle on the power play, Bouchard fired a slapper from the point while there was a mad scramble of players huddled around the net. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (the coach’s favourite player) took a wack at the loose puck into the open cage to give the Oilers their first power play marker of the series.

While fans were busy celebrating that Edmonton erased the doughnut on the man advantage, this goal got Bouchard his 50th career playoff point. In his 45th career postseason contest, he became the third-fastest defender ever to reach the half-century mark with only Brian Leetch (41 games) and Bobby Orr (39 games) doing it quicker. He would go on to add another assist on RNH’s second of the night that helped double the Oilers’ lead.

The crazy part in all of this is that Boucard did this a little over two weeks after he became the third-fastest blueliner to reach 40 playoff points behind Leetch and Orr. Judging by the fact he has broken numerous records in this postseason run and outshined Norris Trophy candidate Quinn Hughes in the second round, it is safe to assume Bouchard is on his way to becoming one of the best offensive-defenceman to ever play the game, especially in the spring. You could even go as far as to suggest that he is making a strong argument for being the Conn Smythe Trophy winner if they can reach the summit in a few weeks.

Heading into Game 5, Bouchard sat third on the Oilers in scoring with 23 points (six goals and 17 assists) in 16 playoff games. Only Connor McDavid and Leon Drasaitl have scored more than the 10th overall pick of the 2018 draft, and he is well ahead of the other Oilers blueliners in scoring with Mattias Ekholm sitting in second with seven points.

The series shifts back to Edmonton for a crucial Game 6 on Sunday. You can catch the action on Sportsnet with the game set to begin at 6 p.m. MDT.