There is simply no argument – Connor McDavid is, indeed, the Second Coming.
At least as far as the struggling Ottawa Senators are concerned.
In a rather local all-star week in the nation's capital, Alexander Ovechkin was the First Coming on Saturday, as his Washington Capitals extended the Senators losing streak to four games with a 1-0 victory.
McDavid was second on Sunday evening, contributing a couple of assists in a close game that saw leads change twice.
The Senators ultimately triumphed with a 5-3 victory over McDavid's Edmonton Oilers, thereby ending Ottawa's sorry streak.
It may be temporary relief, of course, as the next two home games are Thursday against Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins and Saturday against Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and the improved Toronto Maple Leafs.
To strain the analogy to its end, McDavid answered the Senators' prayers Sunday evening when neither he nor his young teammates could prevent Ottawa from launching a successful comeback on two goals late in the second period.
The victory was timely for Ottawa in that their 21-14-4 record kept them in third place in the Atlantic Division, behind the Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins.
The Oilers, now 21-14-7 are also fighting to stay playoff bound in their Pacific Division.
The Oilers are, despite this setback, a seriously improved team.
"I think everyone believes in the room," McDavid told reporters just before the game.
"Obviously, there were a lot of questions coming into this year – you know, how we've done in the past. I think we've been able to answer those early in the season and we've set ourselves up, hopefully, for a pretty special second half."
McDavid has personally had a spectacular first half, the 19-year-old captain leading all NHL scorers with 48 points.
"He's obviously one of the best players in the world," Senators forward Mark Stone said earlier in the day. "We're going to have to find a way to shut him down."
They couldn't, exactly, but they did enough to end their unwelcome streak.
Scoring this night, however, fell first to the Senators. Less than four minutes in, Zack Smith cuffed in a loose puck following some simply ludicrous puck control by the Oilers in their own end. It was Smith's ninth goal of the season.
Eleven minutes later, Ottawa finally broke its power play jinx after going 0-14 in their four-game losing streak. With Edmonton's Jordan Eberle off for tripping, Mike Hoffman one-timed a Stone pass into the short side behind Edmonton goaltender Jonas Gustavsson.
The Oilers came to life in the second period, when Patrick Maroon scored his first of two at the end of an Edmonton power play. Soon after, Maroon scored again – his 16th of the season – on a nice set-up from McDavid. McDavid had moments earlier failed to hit the net with his shot on a clear breakaway against Ottawa goaltender Mike Condon.
Edmonton went ahead briefly when Leon Draisaitl scored his 15thof the year from behind the Ottawa net. That's correct, behind. McDavid had slipped the puck in off the boards and Draisaitl, swooping behind Condon's net, clipped a quick shot on his backhand, the puck striking Condon and falling in behind him.
Ottawa, however, came back quickly to tie matters at 3-3 off a lovely three-way passing rush that saw Stone register his 12th of the year.
And then, with time running out in the second period, Ottawa again scored with Tom Pyatt was able to poke the puck past Gustavsson from a scrum in front of the Edmonton crease. It was Pyatt's fifth goal of the year.
The Oilers pressed hard in the final period but Condon was superb in the Ottawa net. It more than made up for his miscue on the Draisaitl goal.
Kyle Turris finished off the Ottawa scoring with an empty-net goal.
There were actually three story lines coming into this match: the Senators' losing streak, the arrival of the game's best teenager and the Mysterious Case of Bobby Ryan.
Ryan, a former 30-goal scorer with a $7.25-million contract that runs through the 2021-22 season, was a healthy scratch for the Washington game on Saturday. Head coach Guy Boucher would not say why, no matter how hard he was pressed.
"There's complex issues that don't need to be said out here," said Boucher when asked if there was a discipline issue.
Ryan is currently ninth in team scoring with seven goals and seven assists. He had the excuse of an injured hand earlier in the season, but his contract and slim production have turned him into a bit of a whipping boy on the sport talk shows.
Ryan was back in the lineup against the Oilers.
Some local fans had also been disgruntled by the style of play Boucher prefers – suffocating defence first at all times – and perhaps Ryan prefers a more wide-open style. Whatever, neither side was saying.
Whatever, the early fall attendance problems of the Senators seem to have largely vanished with the team's improved record – it might not be pretty, but it works – and the four-game run with the game's biggest stars coming to town can only help.
The Senators currently rank 23rd in attendance, averaging 15,810 fans agame.
This night had 17,724 in attendance, with Crosby and Matthews sure to pack the Canadian Tire Centre later in the week.
Will the Senators be able to bring their new streak to two? Three?
Roy MacGregor