The Edmonton Oilers celebrated their fourth win in their last five games on Wednesday with a 5-1 win against the Calgary Flames. This ended a long dry spell for Leon Draisaitl.
The German scored three goals in the Battle of Alberta and scored for the first time after eight games without a goal. Overall, after 38 games this season he has 55 points scorer (20 goals, 35 assists).
“Of course I never really panicked because I didn’t score in some games. I still had my chances and played well. It was just a matter of time before I scored again,” said Draisaitl.
For the 30-year-old, it was regular season hits numbers 417, 418 and 419 in the Oilers jersey. In the Canadians’ all-time top scorer list, the Cologne native moved past Glenn Anderson (417) into third place. Wayne Gretzky (583) leads the ranking ahead of Jari Kurri (474).
Knoblauch praises Draisaitl and McDavid
Edmonton (19-13-6) is getting better and better after a slow start to the season and is in sixth place in the Western Conference.
Coach Kris Knoblauch explained that Draisaitl and captain Connor McDavid (23 goals, 44 assists) played a big part in the upswing: “We have the two of them to thank for that. They’ve been in really good shape for the past three or four weeks.”
After the Christmas break there will be a rematch against the Flames on Sunday (4 a.m.). This time, however, the game is taking place in Calgary.