Leon Draisaitl has ended his negative run with the Edmonton Oilers in the NHL.
After three defeats in a row, the Stanley Cup finalists of the past two seasons won the Canadian duel against the Ottawa Senators 3-2 after overtime. This puts the Oilers fifth in the Pacific Division, which is currently led by the Vegas Golden Knights.
NHL
Only the first three teams in each of the four divisions are guaranteed to reach the playoffs, i.e. twelve in total. In addition, there are the four teams behind them with the best points, regardless of their placement in the division – two from the East, two from the West. These 16 teams play in the playoffs in a tournament tree divided into West and East to determine the winner of the Stanley Cup. The games run in “Best of seven” mode.
First goal of the season for McDavid
Draisaitl contributed an assist to the success, and superstar Connor McDavid also scored his first goal of the season for the Oilers. Tim Stützle remained without a scorer in around 20 minutes of ice time for Ottawa. When Jake Walman scored the winning goal, the German was in the penalty box for sticking.
Storm with Boston still in crisis
German head coach Marco Sturm missed a break with the Boston Bruins. Against champions Florida Panthers, the Bruins lost 3-4 after conceding a late goal and suffered their fifth defeat in a row. Boston fought back from deficits and equalized twice, but Florida’s Carter Verhaeghe scored the winning goal with 26 seconds left.