It was another one of those nights from Connor McDavid where he took his game to another level.

The boo birds who came out in full force at the end of the second period of Monday’s game between the Edmonton Oilers and Columbus Blue Jackets at Rogers Place seemingly lit a fire in the captain, as he had a third period for the ages, scoring two huge goals.

One, a spinning backhander, and another a goal-line drive, fans have been waiting all year for McDavid to take over a game like that, and he delivered when the team needed him most.

Getting a front row seat to the action was Jack Roslovic, who secured the Oilers’ come back win with the overtime winner.

“It’s nice to have him on your side,” he said with a chuckle when asked what it’s like having played against him previously.

“There’s nothing to be said about the goals, really, but, I mean, just a guy who, you know, took over for those couple shifts. It’s not even those shifts. It’s the whole game. It’s, you know, it’s a body of work that happens through 60 minutes, not through just one miraculous, you know, play. It’s effort throughout a whole game that, you know, leads to one extra inch of open ice. And that’s when he becomes, you know, who he is.”

Evan Bouchard, who notched an assist on McDavid’s second of the game, said seeing McDavid play as he did motivates the rest of the year.

“It was huge,” he said. “Obviously, when you see your leader doing that, it kind of pushes you to know to follow in his footsteps. (He) got two big goals and that’s just what he does.”

Head coach Kris Knoblauch, who has seen McDavid put on shows dating back to his time as his bench boss with the OHL’s Erie Otters, was impressed.

“Connor wasn’t going to let us lose tonight,” said Knoblauch.. “He was so focused on getting the job done.

“I’ve seen Connor rise to the occasion and play some tremendous games, and I’m not going to say this was his best game that I’ve seen him play, but under the circumstances, it’s got a rate up there… He had an incredible night, two fabulous goals, but there was just so much determination to his game that it was like, it’s not going to happen again tonight, and he just willed the team to win.”

The Blue Jackets, meanwhile, had a game plan for McDavid, said Sean Monahan — but McDavid was able to find ways to break that plan down.

“You try and stay in front of him and frustrate him because he wants the puck,” said Monahan. “He wants the puck with speed and obviously everyone knows he can make plays when he has it. So it’s getting in front of him, frustrating him and thought at times we were doing that tonight, but yeah, I mean, he had a few shifts where he made us pay.”

These two teams will meet again Thursday night in Columbus.

Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s associate editor, senior columnist, and The Nation Network’s news director. He also makes up one-half of the Daily Faceoff DFS Hockey Report. He can be followed on X at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach.laing@bettercollective.com.