The Edmonton Oilers for national hockey player Leon Draisaitl continue to struggle in vain for consistency in the NHL. Three days after a 5-2 win in the Canadian duel with Vancouver Canucks, the former champion lost 5-0 to Buffalo Sabres on home soil.
“Everyone was looking forward to the game. But for some reason we can’t get it together,”Draisaitl said. After the bankruptcy against the second worst team in the league, the play-offs for the Oilers, with 45 points the third-worst team in the Western Conference, are moving further and further away.
On the other hand, striker Tom Kühnhackl made an important contribution to Pittsburgh Penguins’ 3-1 home win over the Carolina Hurricanes with his fifth goal of the season. After an eventful season, however, the team around superstar Sidney Crosby still occupies only eighth place in the east (55 points), and the play-off participation of the Penguins is anything but assured before the last third of the regular season.
Defense defender Korbinian Holzer came to Anaheim Ducks for the third time since the beginning of the year. The 29-year-old was on ice for about eight minutes in his twelfth match of the season at California’s 6-3 win over the New York Rangers. Anaheim (55 points) is also currently outside the play-off ranks in the west.
Edmonton Oilers 0 – 5 Buffalo Sabres
Anaheim Ducks 6 – 3 New York Rangers
Vancouver Canucks 6 – 2 Los Angeles Kings
Vegas Golden Knights 6 – 3 Columbus Blue Jackets
San Jose Sharks 4 – 5 OT Winnipeg Jets
Pittsburgh Penguins 3 – 1 Carolina Hurricanes
Boston Bruins 3 – 2 New Jersey Devils
Detroit Red Wings 2 – 3 OT Philadelphia Flyers
Montreal Canadiens 4 – 2 Colorado Avalanche
Nashville Predators 3-4 OT Tampa Bay Lightning
St. Louis Blues 3-0 Ottawa Senators
Dallas Stars 6 – 1 Florida Panthers