Leon Draisaitl named NHL first star of the week from January 27 to February 2

Edmonton Oilers center Leon Draisaitl of Cologne, Germany was named the National Hockey League’s player of the week from January 27 to February 2 according to nhl.com. In three games, Draisaitl had two goals and six assists for eight points.

Draisaitl was also a +7 with two penalty minutes, one game winning goal, two power play points, 14 shots on goal, one hit, one blocked shot and 40 faceoff wins. His game winning goal came in a 4-2 Oilers win over the St. Louis Blues at Rogers Place. The win was impressive, considering the fact that the Blues are the defending Stanley Cup champions.

Draisaitl had two assists in a 4-3 shootout loss to the Calgary Flames on January 29. That was followed up by two goals in the win over the Blues and then four assists in an 8-3 Oilers win over the Flames on February 1.

Throughout the entire National Hockey League season, Draisaitl and Connor McDavid have been sensational on the league’s number one power play. However this past week, Draisaitl was excellent on even strength and in the faceoff circle. Of his eight points, six came even strength. The fact that the Oilers had so much success playing five-on-five this past week was key because that has been an area of concern so far for Edmonton in 2019-20.

Meanwhile, in the faceoff circle, Draisaitl won 40 of his 71 draws. That was a winning percentage of 56.3%. As a result, Draisaitl saw his winning percentage taking faceoffs improve to 50.5%.

We know that Draisaitl can play very effectively with Connor McDavid. However the fact he is now having success with former number one overall pick Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Kailer Yamamoto of Spokane, WA spreads out the Oilers offense, which is critical if they hope to have long term success.

Draisaitl also has been sensational for the Oilers all season. He now leads the NHL with 54 assists, 83 points and eight game winning goals. He also has 29 goals, is a -7, 14 penalty minutes, 34 power play points, 158 shots on goal, 437 faceoff wins, 18 blocked shots, 21 hits, 38 takeaways and 65 giveaways.

The Oilers are currently in second place in the Pacific Division with 62 points. They are three points back of the first place Vancouver Canucks.