Germany’s ice hockey star Leon Draisaitl had an unforgettable evening in the NHL despite a bitter defeat for his Edmonton Oilers.
In front of his family, the 30-year-old was honored for his 1,000 career points and then even scored two goals – only the missed penalty and the 3:4 defeat after the shootout against the Los Angeles Kings dampened the mood a little.
“It’s great that my family made the journey to be there, including my 82-year-old grandma. It was of course a very special evening for me,” said Draisaitl, who was celebrated with dog Bowie in his arms before the game at Rogers Place: “I’m also a little proud of this milestone, which seemed very far away when I started here in Edmonton as a very young player.”
Oilers CEO Jeff Jackson gave him a golden bat and Draisaitl received a personalized luxury watch from his teammates.
The Cologne native scored his 1,000th scorer point in the main round in his 824th game on December 16th in a 6-4 away win against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Draisaitl is the 103rd player in the NHL’s 1,000-cap club and the fifth in Oilers franchise history. At the same time, Draisaitl is the fifth fastest non-North American and the first German to reach this mark.
Inspired by the honor, Draisaitl gave the Oilers the lead twice (10th/22nd), and the national player now has 23 goals and 40 assists in 45 games this season. His congenial strike partner Connor McDavid made it 3-3 and extended the score (50′). The Canadian scored in his 18th game in a row and has 19 goals and 23 assists during this time.
In the penalty shootout, however, McDavid, Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins missed for the Oilers, and Adrian Kempe converted to win for the guests.