Leon Draisaitl could join elite NHL club with only Wayne Gretzky & Bossy as members over past century

By Ankit Kumar

Modified Oct 17, 2024 20:19 GMT

Leon Draisaitl is on the verge of joining a rare NHL group. Only Wayne Gretzky and Mike Bossy have matched his remarkable goal streak. Draisaitl has scored 23 goals in his last 14 games against the Nashville Predators. If he scores a hat trick in his next game, he’ll tie Gretzky's record of 25 goals against one team in 15 games.

"Leon Draisaitl has 23 goals and 37 points in his last 14 games v. Nashville. Ridiculous. Only two other players, in the last 100 years, have scored 23 goals in a 14-game stretch v. one team." NHL Insider Jason Gregor tweeted before listing the details.

• Wayne Gretzky -> 26-21-47 v. STL (1981-85).
• And he had -> 24-17-41 v. TOR (1981-1986).
• Mike Bossy-> 23-17-40 v. CHI 1981-84.

"If Draisaitl scores a hat trick tonight he'd join Gretzky with 25 goals over a 15-game span," Gregor added.

Draisaitl scored the game-winning goal in a 4-3 overtime win against the Flyers on Wednesday. Despite taking a penalty and being benched, he responded with an assist and the overtime winner.

This season, Draisaitl has two goals, an assist, and 10 shots in four games. However, managing his penalty minutes will be important moving forward.

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Leon Draisaitl talked about his unnecessary penalty which got him benched

Leon Draisaitl was benched briefly by coach Kris Knoblauch after an unnecessary penalty in a game against the Flyers. Draisaitl responded by assisting the game-tying goal and scoring the overtime winner, helping the Oilers secure a 4-3 victory. This was the team's first win of the season after three losses.

“As a group, we took some penalties that we didn’t need to take,” Knoblauch said about Draisaitl per NY times. “We’ve just got to, ultimately, stay out of the penalty box and play our game — make it easier on ourselves so we can play on the attack, play five-on-five or even drawing penalties.”

Knoblauch’s decision to bench Draisaitl sent a clear message about staying disciplined. Draisaitl accepted responsibility:

“Some of the penalties, like mine, (were) unnecessary. That’s on us. That’s on me. Our killers, for the most part, did a really good job.”

Despite the setback, his key performance helped the Oilers avoid starting the season 0-4.

Earlier in September, Draisaitl signed an eight-year, $112 million contract extension with the Oilers. He will be an important part of the team's offense till 2033.