McDavid explodes — 130 points

Connor McDavid put up five points on April 8 against the San Jose Sharks, with three goals and two assists, and ESPN’s game log shows that night pushed him to 133 points on the season, not 130. (espn.com) That line comes with one giant catch: ESPN still lists McDavid with the Edmonton Oilers, not the Buffalo Sabres, and the National Hockey League trade tracker does not show a McDavid-to-Buffalo move in the 2025-26 season. (espn.com) (nhl.com) Buffalo’s real race is dramatic enough without inventing a superstar transfer. ESPN’s standings show the Sabres at 104 points and alone in first place in the Atlantic Division, ahead of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Montreal Canadiens at 102. (espn.com) The Sabres were only tied for first on April 6, when they beat Tampa Bay 4-2 at KeyBank Center and moved level on 102 points. National Hockey League coverage said Tampa Bay still held the tiebreaker that night because the Lightning had played one fewer game. (nhl.com 1) (nhl.com 2) By April 9, the National Hockey League’s playoff-race update said Buffalo was holding first place after a 5-3 win over the New York Rangers. That is the shift that turned a tie into a lead. (nhl.com) Buffalo’s season is the surprise here because this is the same franchise that just ended the National Hockey League’s longest active playoff drought. The league wrote on April 5 that the Sabres had clinched a postseason berth for the first time since 2010-11. (nhl.com) So the clean version of the story is this: McDavid did have a monster night on April 8, but it was for Edmonton, and it lifted him to 133 points. Buffalo did take over the Atlantic Division lead this week, but that happened through its own results, not because McDavid suddenly started wearing blue and gold. (espn.com 1) (espn.com 2)