Draisaitl previously had five assists against the Colorado Avalanche on Nov. 14 and leads the NHL with 107 points (43 goals, 64 assists). He’s on pace for 133 points, which would be the most in the NHL since Mario Lemieux had 161 and Jaromir Jagr had 149 for the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1995-96. Nikita Kucherov led the NHL with 128 for the Tampa Bay Lightning last season.
The Oilers forward had his first four-goal NHL game, including three in the third period. His 43 goals are fourth in the NHL, four behind Boston Bruins forward David Pastrnak, who leads the League with 47. Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin and Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews are tied for second with 45.
Draisaitl’s teammate, Connor McDavid, also had five points (one goal, four assists) against the Predators. It was his third five-point game of the season; he had six points (three goals, three assists) in a 6-2 win against the Colorado Avalanche on Nov. 14 and five (one goal, four assists) in a 6-3 win against the Philadelphia Flyers on Oct. 16.
McDavid’s big night boosted the Edmonton captain into second in the NHL scoring race with 94 points (32 goals, 62 assists), 13 behind Draisaitl. He passed Pastrnak (91 points) and New York Rangers forward Artemi Panarin (90 points).
McDavid and Draisaitl combined to score four of Edmonton’s five third-period goals against Nashville, in a span of 5:13. It’s the fifth-fastest five goals in Oilers history; the record is five in 3:35 against the Vancouver Canucks on April 27, 2013.
The Oilers (35-23-8) now are two points behind the Vegas Golden Knights (36-23-8) for first in the Pacific Division. They play at the Dallas Stars on Tuesday (8:30 p.m. ET; FS-SW, SNW, NHL.TV).
New faces boost Avalanche to seventh straight win
Vladislav Namestnikov scored a goal, Michael Hutchinson made 17 saves and the Avalanche extended their winning streak to seven games with a 2-1 victory against the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena.
The forward and goalie were acquired in separate trades Feb. 24 and helped the Avalanche stretch their team-record road winning streak to nine games, tied with the Rangers (Jan. 16-Feb. 27) for the longest run this season. Colorado is three games from equaling the NHL record for the longest winning streak away from home, owned by the Minnesota Wild (Feb. 8-April 9, 2015) and Red Wings (March 1-April 16, 2006).
The Avalanche (40-18-7) are one point behind the St. Louis Blues for first in the Central Division. After playing the Anaheim Ducks at home on Wednesday, they start a three-game road trip at the Vancouver Canucks on Friday.
Streaks on the line when Blues visit Rangers
The Blues will go for their eighth consecutive victory when they play the Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; ESPN+, MSG, FS-MW, NHL.TV). They’re tied with the Avalanche for the longest active winning streak in the NHL. St. Louis won eight in a row from Dec. 12-29.
Panarin has 19 points (five goals, 14 assists) during an NHL career-high 13-game point streak. He can become the second undrafted player since 1997-98 with a point streak of at least 14 games, joining Pascal Dupuis of the Penguins, who had 22 points (10 goals, 12 assists) during a 17-game streak from March 7-April 7, 2012. Eighteen undrafted players to debut since the first NHL Draft on June 5, 1963 had at least one point in 14 or more consecutive team games within a regular season. Wayne Gretzky did it 22 times, including once with the Rangers when he had 22 points (seven goals, 15 assists) in 15 games from Oct. 6-Nov. 4, 1996.
