Leon Draisaitl is doing all he can to help put the Edmonton Oilers in the best possible position for the postseason.
Meanwhile, the New York Rangers are just trying to make the playoffs any what they can.
Riding a career-high 17-game point streak, Draisaitl will look to help the Oilers salvage a split of their four-game trip on Sunday night against the Rangers.
Draisaitl has recorded at least 100 points in four consecutive seasons and six in the past seven, falling short only in the pandemic-impacted 2020-21 season.
On Friday night against the New York Islanders, Draisaitl reached that milestone in dramatic fashion, scoring his second goal of the game at 3:53 into overtime in Edmonton’s 2-1 victory.
While another prominent individual feat is nice, Draisaitl was happier that the Oilers averted a third consecutive loss.
“The two points are much bigger than any other personal record,” said Draistaitl, who joined Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon as the first two players to reach 100 points this season.
“Sometimes you need a game like that just to grind one out and get going.”
The Oilers currently are jostling with the Los Angeles Kings for second place in the Pacific Division.
Even with Draisaitl and fellow superstar Connor McDavid leading the way, Edmonton has been held to two goals in each game on this trip.
“There’s always been a ton of adversity (for the team),” said Edmonton goalie Calvin Pickard, who made 24 saves Friday for his second win in three starts this month.
“We’re no strangers to it. We’ve been putting together some good efforts but we just haven’t been able to score.”
In a 6-2 home win over the Rangers on Nov. 23, McDavid had two goals with an assist, Draisaitl posted one of each and Stuart Skinner made 32 saves.
McDavid, who has two goals with 12 assists during a 10-game point streak, owns eight points in seven games at Madison Square Garden. Meanwhile, Draisaitl has been held without a point in five of the nine times he’s played there.
New York returns home after winning two straight on the road following an 0-2-2 rut.
On Saturday, Vincent Trocheck scored twice, Alexis Lafreniere and Artemi Panarin each had a goal with an assist and Igor Shesterkin made 21 saves in a 4-0 victory at Columbus. The win propelled New York into the Eastern Conference’s final wild-card spot for the moment.
The Rangers, who had star defenseman Adam Fox back Saturday after he missed eight games with an upper-body injury, allowed four goals on the 2-1-0 trip.
“I thought we got better every minute of the game (Saturday),” Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said.
“(But), we’ve got a lot of work to do. There are still teams that are right there. … We’re in charge of what we do.”
Shesterkin stopped 69 of 73 shots on the trip, but Jonathan Quick, who gave up seven goals in his last start versus Columbus on March 9, could get the call Sunday.
Panarin has 12 points in eight games this month.
–Field Level Media
