NASHVILLE — There are certain guarantees in Nashville that make this town what it is.
Like the fried bologna sandwich at Robert’s Western World that comes with a Pabst Blue Ribbon beer for only 50 cents extra. Or the band that plays as hard on a Tuesday night as they do on the weekend — because that’s when the studio execs like to do their scouting.
Then there is the Leon Draisaitl guarantee that leaves the Nashville Predators in need of an Advil — without ever setting foot in a Broadway Honkytonk.
No player has dominated another NHL team in recent history the way Draisaitl has dismantled the Preds. Not Connor McDavid versus the Calgary Flames, Auston Matthews over Montreal or David Pastrnak against the Philadelphia Flyers.
Draisaitl owns the Preds the way a farmer owns his mule, becoming the Edmonton Oilers‘ all-time powerplay goal leader on a four-point night Tuesday as the Oilers thumped the Predators 6-1 for their first win of the young season.
“I don’t know. I can’t explain it,” said Draisaitl, who had two goals and two assists. “Sometimes it works better against certain teams than other teams. I’m sure there’s going to be a time where it’s coming to an end. Hopefully I can drag it out a couple more games.”
The humble German now has an incredible 22 goals and 34 points in his last 12 games versus the Preds. He entered the game with a career shooting percentage of 38.2 per cent in this building — and raised it, scoring twice on five shots. His game-opening powerplay goal launched him past Ryan Smyth and Glenn Anderson for the franchise’s career powerplay goals record with 127. He later buried his 128th.
“He scores against every team. Not just Nashville,” pointed out Zach Hyman, who had a goal and four points on a plus-three night. “One hundred goals in a career is pretty good. So 128 on the powerplay? Before the age of 30? Pretty good.”
“He’s the best power forward in today’s NHL,” added head coach Jay Woodcroft, who switched his lines around in Game 3 to great success. “He’s the modern version of the power forward. He’s versatile — he can play either wing, plays in the middle. His powerplay performance is quite special… and obviously he’s got some type of feeling in this building and against this team. His game tonight was outstanding.”
It was a night of round numbers and milestones, as Edmonton found its game and chased Juuse Saros after a 4-0 first period:
• Connor McDavid hit 550 assists in career game No. 573. He becomes the fifth fastest player in NHL history to hit 550 apples, behind Wayne Gretzky (386 games), Mario Lemieux (483), Peter Stastny (564), and Bobby Orr (565).
• Hyman tucked home his 150th career goal.
• Draisaitl notched career point No. 750 in Game 641.
And speaking of numbers, goalie Jack Campbell allowed just one goal on 43 shots, bumping his saves percentage from .750 all the way up to .915. He was spectacular at times and steady the rest of the way, in a game in which the score will not have many outside the Oilers room talking about goaltending.
“The timely saves were super important in the first (period),” said Hyman, who was likely Edmonton’s best skater. “And then in the second when it was 4-1 and they were pushing to make it 4-2? There were a bunch of big saves to keep it there and let us work our way back.”
Campbell got the opening night start in Vancouver and promptly got yanked, in a game where his teammates were awful in front of him.
“It’s a humbling league,” Campbell said on a Tuesday night in Tennessee. “But understanding the difference between me last year and this year — and over the course of my career — is learning that there are great players in the league. Having the mindset (that) I’m going to be perfect, and everything’s going (to) go great every night, is almost arrogant.
“Sometimes you’re not going to have a great night, and that’s what happened (in Vancouver). I didn’t let it get me down, just worked hard, and (the) boys worked hard all week. It feels good to get rewarded with a win.”
There was a time, between 2014 and 2018, that Nashville beat Edmonton 12 straight times. Since then it’s been the Oilers doing all the winning, ringing up a 10-0-2 record in the past dozen meetings.
