Burnaby Winter Club product Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is overachieving even for his standards.
The first overall draft pick in this season's NHL junior entry draft is arguably exceeding even the most fervent fan's wildest expectations with a two-point night in the Edmonton Oilers 3-2 shootout loss to the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday.
Nugent-Hopkins opened the scoring with his 11th goal of the year on a snap shot off a cross-ice pass from Andrew Sutton in the first period.
The 18-year-old marvel also drew an assist on linemate Jordan Eberle's ninth of the year off a secondperiod power play.
The points lifted Nugent-Hopkins into a tie for third in overall league scoring with 27 points in his first 25 games, just three points behind leader Toronto Maple Leafs forward Phil Kessel.
The Oilers rookie currently leads his teammates in scoring and in shooting percentage at 21.2 per cent.
In November, Nugent-Hopkins scored six goals and added 10 assists, including an NHL record five helpers for 18-year-old players.
