POST-GAME: Draisaitl sets new Oilers franchise record for power-play goals

NASHVILLE, TN – Leon Draisaitl should never be left alone on the power play.

Now, the German stands alone in Oilers franchise history for markers with the man advantage, and that number is only going up.

"And counting. Pretty good," said teammate Zach Hyman, who recorded four points on Tuesday. "100 goals in a career is pretty good, so 128 power-play goals is... how old is Leon?

"Before the age of 30, obviously, that's pretty good."

With the 127th and 128th power-play goals of his career in Edmonton's 6-1 victory over Nashville at Bridgestone Arena, the 27-year-old German superstar surpassed Glenn Anderson (126) and Ryan Smyth (126) to take sole possession of the franchise's all-time record for power-play goals.

"Obviously two incredible players that have done a lot for this organization, and to be a part of that list is pretty special," Draisaitl said. "This is obviously as much of a tribute to my teammates as it is to me, so I'm well aware of how smart of hockey players I have around me. "I'm very fortunate to be on the receiving end of it.

Draisaitl dropped to one knee in the left circle and one-timed Hyman's net-side dish over the glove of Nashville netminder Juuse Saros near the midway mark of the first period to claim the Oilers all-time record for PPGs as his own, while picking up an important go-ahead goal for the Blue & Orange.

The German was back at The Spot™ in the right circle during another man advantage eight minutes into the middle frame, where had a puck deflect onto his tape before repositioning himself to tuck his second of the night into the yawning cage – putting the game to bed after Jack Campbell closed the curtains between the pipes for Edmonton over the final period-and-a-half.

The pride of Cologne has notched three of his four goals in the opening three games this season on the power play after another mystifying night of dominance for No. 29 in the Music City, with four more points pushing his point total over their Edmonton's last 13 meetings with Nashville to 22 goals and 12 assists.

Over that span, the Predators have combined to score only 28 goals against the Oilers.

It's been such a dominant streak, in fact, that Leon Draisaitl is the only active player in the NHL to average a goal per game against any single NHL team with at least 20 games played.

"I don't know. I can't explain it," Draisaitl said. "I get this asked a lot and I'm kind of sick of it, not going to lie [laughs]. I have the same answer every time. It's annoying. Sometimes it works better against certain teams than other teams, and I'm sure there's going to be a time where it comes to an end too. Hopefully, I can drag it out a couple more games, but we'll see."

However, Draisaitl's teammates are having none of it after ribbing their teammate in the build-up to Tuesday's game about his personal vendetta against the entire city of Nashville.

"He says he scores against every team: 'It's not just Nashville,'" Hyman said. "We were joking around with him, but obviously he's had tremendous success against these guys for whatever reason. He's a pretty good player."

But they cannot deny – a confident Draisaitl is one of the most dangerous things in hockey.

"He just rolls in every town," Campbell said. "He's a treat to play with the person he is and the character he has. We have a great group of guys. It's fun to see other guys step up too, and he'll be the first to say that, but it's great to see No. 29 just absolutely rolling."

"I said earlier in Camp that I think he's the best power forward in today's NHL," Head Coach Jay Woodcroft added. "He's the modern version of the power forward. He's versatile. He can play either wing and play in the middle. His power-play performance is quite special and I was wrong – I guess past performance does say something.

"I said that in the morning, but obviously he's got some type of feeling in this building and against this team, His game tonight was outstanding and I'm happy for him."