Leaping past a historic milestone, Leon Draisaitl reached 1,000 career NHL points as the Oilers topped the Penguins. He became the first German-born player to hit the mark, amassing 1,003 points (416 goals, 587 assists) over 824 games since Edmonton drafted him third overall in 2014.
Draisaitl achieved the 1,000th point with a secondary assist on Zach Hyman’s goal that gave the Oilers a 1-0 lead on a 5-on-3 at 11:38 of the first period. His cross-ice pass helped Connor McDavid reach the crease, where Hyman’s backhand finished off the play and extended his goal streak to four games (six goals in that span).
McDavid finished with two goals and two assists, extending his own point streak to seven games (20 points: nine goals, 11 assists). Hyman and Evan Bouchard each posted a goal and an assist as the Oilers improved to 16-12-6, and they’ve gone 5-1-1 in their last seven. Tristan Jarry stopped 26 shots in his first game against his former team.
Sidney Crosby added an assist to close the gap to one point behind Mario Lemieux for the most in Penguins history, moving to 1,722 points (644 goals, 1,078 assists). Lemieux ended his career in 2005 with 1,723 points (690 goals, 1,033 assists).
Stuart Skinner, making his Pittsburgh debut after the trade swap that brought Jarry and Skinner together, stopped 17 shots. The Penguins, who fell to 14-9-9, dropped six in a row (0-2-4) and finished 0-2-3 on a five-game homestand. Erik Karlsson and Thomas Novak each had a goal and an assist, while Anthony Mantha contributed two assists.
This game marked the first meeting of two traded-for goalies within a week since the swap Friday, as Jarry and Skinner faced off for the first time since the deal.
Key scoring moments followed closely:
- McDavid’s goal just 14 seconds after Hyman made it 2-0, finishing a remaining power play by weaving around Parker Wotherspoon and tucking the puck around Skinner’s pad.
- Novak’s backhand on a rebound from Mantha cut the gap to 2-1 at 19:15.
- Matt Savoie extended the lead to 3-1 with a second-period wrist shot through Skinner’s five-hole at 4:35.
- Karlsson’s one-timer on a Crosby setup pulled Pittsburgh within 3-2 on the power play at 6:24.
- Bouchard’s wrist shot made it 4-2 for Edmonton at 9:36 on another Oilers power play.
- Podkolzin converted a loose puck in the slot to push the margin to 5-2 at 6:47 of the third.
- Bryan Rust trimmed the deficit to 5-3 with a goal from the crease at 16:51.
- McDavid iced the win with an empty-net goal at 18:41 for his 20th of the season.
- Danton Heinen finished the scoring at 19:46, finalizing a 6-4 Oilers victory.
This win highlights Edmonton’s strong recent stretch and Draisaitl’s historic achievement within a highly competitive matchup.
