OLYMPICS: Draisaitl's two points help lead Germany past Denmark in Group C action

MILANO -- What a beginning to a new era of German hockey under CAPTAIN Leon Draisaitl.

Donning the 'C' for his nation for the first time at Milano Cortina 2026, Leon Draisaitl recorded his first-career Olympic goal and tallied an assist on Thursday as Team Germany began its campaign with a 3-1 debut victory over Team Denmark in Group C action at Milano Rho Ice Hockey Arena.

Draisaitl set the tone early by scoring his first goal of the tournament only 23 seconds into regulation before adding a power-play assist on forward Tim Stützle's second goal of the contest with 9:58 left in the second period, which ended up being the final act in Germany's opening victory in Milan.

Germany showed just how dangerous they can be with their full squad of NHL superstars available, with the nation's new leadership group all helping lead the charge after Draisaitl and Stützle each posted multiple points and defenceman Moritz Seider recorded a team-high 26:18 in ice time.

Goaltender Philipp Grubauer stopped 36 of 37 shots between the pipes.

Draisaitl & Germany will take on Team Latvia in their next match this Saturday at 4:10 am MST.

The start to Draisaitl's tenure as captain for Team Germany couldn't have started better after the 30-year-old combined with childhood teammate Frederik Tiffels to score the third-fastest goal in NHL-participated Olympic history only 23 seconds into the contest.

On a quick attack that started with his own pass from Germany's zone, Draisaitl crossed into Denmark territory and followed his path to the net before putting a redirection over the left pad of Danish netminder Frederik Andersen from the bottom of the right circle to make it 1-0 with his first Olympic goal.

Draisaitl and Tiffels were teammates in 2010-11 when they were 14 years old, the year Draisaitl recorded 192 points (97 goals) in 29 games for Mannheim. The two made up two-thirds of a line with his Oilers teammate Josh Samanski as the Germans looked to spread their NHL talent throughout the lineup.

After Oscar Moelgaard equalized for the Danes to make it 1-1 after the opening 20 minutes, that depth came through when Stützle gave the Germans back the lead 4:20 into the middle frame before Draisaitl picked up a helper six minutes later on his countryman's lucky break for his second goal of the game.

Draisaitl recorded a secondary helper when Stützle's attempted pass went in off a Danish defender with 10 minutes left in the frame to extend the lead.

The Germans would secure their 3-1 victory, but not before Draisaitl was involved in a handful of key moments in the third period at both ends of the ice, starting with a backhand on a breakaway that was saved by Andersson before he made another stop on his pass to Samanski on a two-on-one.

Draisaitl was doing it at both ends after being out on the ice in the final minutes with Denmark's net empty to help seal the victory.