Team Germany have done it. They are heading to the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics quarterfinals and a big contributor was Leon Draisaitl. The Edmonton Oilers star popped off against France which led to 5-1 stomp. They are now enroute to another international matchup to face the Juraj Slafkovsky-led Slovakia but before that Draisaitl notched a historic record.
Edmonton and Germany star etches name in Olympics history
Draisaitl has become the first German NHL player to have a three-point game at the Olympics. He got to do so by spending a game-leading 24:07 time on the ice to help guys Tim Stutzle and JJ Peterka find their groove on offense. It all paid off as these three in the same line were able to generate enough offensive pressure to prevent France from heating up at any point in the game.
The Oilers star now sets his eyes on winning against Slovakia, via Bill Price of NHL.com.
“Definitely a step in the right direction today. It’s going to get harder; the tournament is getting smaller, and it’s getting harder each and every round, so teams are going to get better. We know that. We’re aware of that. We’ve got a big task ahead of us tomorrow, so today was a good step. And, yeah, well, we’ll get ready for tomorrow,” he declared.
As of the moment, Draisaitl and Stutzle have each notched six points for Germany at the Olympics. JJ Peterka from the Utah Mammoth has gotten four points while Frederik Tiffels has three. Each of them have been blazing at Milano Cortina but there is a big issue that they will have to face.
Fatigue plays a huge role on whether Germany makes it past Slafkovsky’s Slovakia. In a span of less than 24 hours, Draisaitl and Co. will have played two games which will surely bang them up. Not to mention, their quarterfinals opponents are physical on defense, offense, and goaltending which means that they will have to go the extra mile at Milano Cortina.
Will Germany be able to replicate the same success?
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