Germany’s ice hockey star Leon Draisaitl suffered a bitter home defeat with the Edmonton Oilers in the NHL at the end of the year.
The Oilers lost 6-2 in their own stadium against the Boston Bruins, coached by former national coach Marco Sturm. Draisaitl gave Zach Hyman the assist to make it 1:2 shortly before the end of the first period.
“We didn’t put up enough resistance,” complained Draisaitl: “We weren’t good enough. We didn’t play our best games after the Christmas break.”
With 46 points after 41 games, the Oilers are the fourth-best team in the Western Conference, but at the halfway point of the regular season the third-place Minnesota Wild are further away from the Oilers in terms of points than the fourth-from-bottom, the 13th-place St. Louis Blues.
Sturm (47), who ended a series of six defeats in an impressive manner with Boston and is within striking distance of the play-off places in the Eastern Conference with his team, was extremely satisfied: “I’m proud of the way we played.”
Star defender Moritz Seider prepared Dylan Larkin’s first tour in the Detroit Red Wings’ 2-1 win against the Winnipeg Jets. The strengthened Red Wings are currently tied at the top of the Eastern Conference with the Carolina Hurricanes, who have played two fewer games.
Minnesota with Nico Sturm, who didn’t contribute to the goal, lost 3:4 to the San Jose Sharks on New Year’s Eve after a penalty shootout.