Draisaitl’s game 1 performance earns spot in Oilers record books

Big Leon broke a decade old streak last night.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 6 years ago
Draisaitl’s game 1 performance earns spot in Oilers record books
Keystone Press

When Connor McDavid led the Edmonton Oilers back into the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time in over a decade, it was expected that he’d continue to shoulder the load on a young Oilers team and shepherd them along the way. While he’s been good so far, the superstar centerman has taken a back seat to another Oilers’ youngster. Leon Draisaitl has been the best Edmonton Oiler thus far in the playoffs. 

In fact, last night’s 4 point performance from Draisaitl was the first by an Oilers player in nearly a decade, the last time coming May 14th, 2006 from Oilers legend Ryan Smyth. Draisaitl’s 1 goal and 3 assists en route to the Oilers 5-3 series opening victory over the Anaheim Ducks served notice to the league that the Oilers are not merely a one player team. In fact, given that he tallied 8 point sin 5 regular season games against the Ducks in 2016-17, Draisaitl might draw more attention than McDavid moving forward.

One thing’s for sure, with so many dynamic offensive weapons and a forward group that excels at pushing the pace of the game, the Ducks will have their hands full in trying to slow down the Oilers.


Source: Sportsnet