Wild ride on the roller coaster: “Play-off monster” Draisaitl saves the Oilers

Wild ride in the roller coaster
“Playoff Monster” Draisaitl saves the Oilers

Leon Draisaitl and the Edmonton Oilers have improved their chances of progressing to the NHL playoffs again. The German ice hockey superstar shines. Zach Hyman scored the acclaimed winner for the Oilers in the eleventh minute of overtime.

After the wild ride on the roller coaster, Leon Draisaitl quickly found his bearings again. “That’s only two wins,” said the ice hockey superstar after his Edmonton Oilers’ 5: 4 after overtime in the fourth play-off round of 16 at the Los Angeles Kings, “first we need four.” With a brace, the man from Cologne himself helped the Stanley Cup aspirant to catch up from a 0:3 deficit after the first period. But LA took the lead again before the Oilers forced overtime and Zach Hyman (71) equalized 2-2 in the best-of-seven series.

“We are a very resilient group,” emphasized Draisaitl, “and we will not give up – never, no matter what.” The 27-year-old has risen to the lead in the play-offs. With five goals and four assists in four games, Draisaitl not only overshadowed his congenial strike partner Connor McDavid, the outstanding player of the main round, and placed himself at the top of the scorer list. A stat shows the team’s dependence on its superstar. When Draisaitl is on the ice in the playoffs, the record reads like this: 14:4 goals. Without him, on the other hand: 0:9 goals. Unbelievable.

So far only Gretzky has been better, who else?

He is also becoming more and more of a “play-off monster”: Before him, only the legends Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux were faster with 60 points in the championship round. Now he has made history again: Before his two goals (30th/40th) he had already prepared the goal of defender Evan Bouchard (25th) – he scored three points in a play-off third for the sixth (!) time , drawing level with legendary goalscorer Maurice “The Rocket” Richard, among others. So far only Gretzky has been better, who else?

For the 20th time he scored several points in one game in the play-offs – in his 41st game. Only “The Great One” Gretzky and Sidney Crosby – who together won the Stanley Cup seven times – needed fewer games to reach that mark. Richard, after whom the top scorer’s trophy is named, lifted the most coveted ice hockey trophy aloft eight times. After nine years in the NHL, Draisaitl is still waiting for his first triumph. Until then there are still 14 wins.

Meanwhile, the Boston Bruins, who set a win and points record in the main round, are just one win away from progressing to the next round. The Bruins beat the Florida Panthers 6-2 (1-0, 1-1, 4-1). The visitors scored the last three goals, two of them by Taylor Hall, while the Canadian striker also provided two more assists. After beating the New York Islanders 5-2 (1-0, 2-0, 2-2), the Carolina Hurricanes only need one win to progress. The Dallas Stars prevailed 3:2 (0:0, 1:0, 2:2) at the Minnesota Wild and equalized the series to 2:2. Match winner was Tyler Seguin with two goals.

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