Leon Draisaitl was the first German ice hockey professional to break the barrier of 1,000 scorer points in the NHL.
At 6:4 the Edmonton Oilers both Pittsburgh Penguins The 30-year-old from Cologne prepared four of his team’s goals and collected the scorer points 1,000, 1,001, 1,002 and 1,003. Draisaitl is now one of only 103 players in the history of the National Hockey League, who has at least 1,000 scorer points. It took him 824 games.
“As someone who grew up in Germany, it always felt like a very long way,” said Draisaitl. “That was definitely just a dream. I’m super grateful and also a little proud.”
After the 1-0 win – against Stuart Skinner in goal, whom the Oilers had only sent to Pittsburgh in a trade on Friday – the entire bench congratulated Draisaitl.
McDavid also had four scorer points
“He’s such a special player. I can’t say enough good things about him,” McDavid commented on his pal’s special day. “It is no surprise that he has achieved this success and achieved it so quickly with so many good years ahead of him.”
McDavid himself reached 1,000 scorer points even faster. Against the Penguins he also collected four scorer points with two goals – the first prepared by Draisaitl – and two assists.
Draisaitl now has 30 assists this season
“It was a lot of hard work and a lot of people helped along the way,” said Draisaitl. “These successes are always focused on one player, but so many people play an important role.”
The assist to make it 5-2 in the final third was Draisaitl’s 30th assist of the season, second only to McDavid and Macklin Celebrini San Jose Sharks have more. Thanks to their success in Pittsburgh, the Oilers now have 16 wins this season and are third in their division and thus in the playoffs.