Playoff week is at its peak at the moment. With crucial games up ahead, some interesting ties will inevitably be broken in the 7-game series. Most recently, the Edmonton Oilers ended up beating the Los Angeles Kings by 4-3 in a super tight game that progressed into overtime, where the decisive goal was scored. As a result, the teams are now tied 2-2, and Leon Draisaitl can bask in the glory of his first-ever overtime goal, as he prepares for game 5. This season, he is joining all-time career goal record holder Alex Ovechkin as the two players in the league to score their first OT goals. However, Ovi and Draisaitl seem to have slightly different takes on the whole thing.
In a post-match interview where Draisaitl sat alongside Evan Bouchard and answered some detailed questions on their team’s performance, Draisaitl was asked if this first OT goal was number one in his career now. In response Draisaitl said, “uh yeah probably I would I would put it number one uh it’s probably the most important goal uh to the state um that I’ve scored in my career so hopefully there’s there’s a couple more to come that are that are even more important but uh I’ll take that for now”
Leon Draisaitl who has been playing with the Edmonton Oilers for 11 seasons has 399 goals, and a Hart Trophy to back his name, yet this one, the OT game winner in round one of the playoffs, was obviously the most important of his career till date. It is all contextual, because not every player might have had the same response to such an achievement.
Washington Capital’s captain Alex Ovechkin, for example, didn’t seem as phased by his first ever OT goal this season, perhaps because he is currently adding it to his fast-growing list of goals that is looking likely to reach 900 next season. “A goal is a goal,” Ovechkin said when asked about his OT shot. “Good things happen when you go to the net.”
The contrast between Leon Draisaitl, Alex Ovechkin and their power play moments
When Draisaitl, who was briefly injured in mid-March, was asked if the Oilers changed their approach to the power play in this game, he answered, “Not much, we’ve had lots of looks in the first two nights um that we played them uh lots of um chances that could have gone in where we’re close and we weren’t maybe just as sharp and and connecting on those so um the last two nights obviously we bared down and uh yeah we’re looking to continue that.” The precision Draisaitl spoke about was also highlighted by his teammate Evan Bouchard, who managed to send the game into overtime by scoring the tying goal.
When asked about the marked difference that the Oilers demonstrated in this game, versus other rough starts they’ve had Bouchard said, “I think 50/50 battles were a huge thing um we were winning them the third period overtime” Adding, “We weren’t shooting ourselves in the foot um like we did in the first and second period um we kept things simple and stuck to a game plan in the third and overtime.” Puck precision was a big deal for the Oilers, but that doesn’t mean Draisaitl and Bouchard can’t celebrate their victories a little more!
However, both players who played significant roles in the fate of that game between the Oilers and the Kings seem to be taking their victories with a lot of humility and analysis. Alex Ovechkin, on the other hand, who has 20 NHL seasons behind him and is expected to reach at least 900 goals by next season, seems to be in a league of his own in more ways than one.
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