The Edmonton Oilers lost in disappointing fashion to the Anaheim Ducks. After holding a 3-1 lead in the second period, the team’s effort completely folded, giving the Ducks a deserved two points. One player who showed great work ethic throughout was Leon Draisaitl. Draisaitl scored two of the Oilers’ three goals that afternoon, taking his tally to 26 in 36 games.

The German superstar is now three goals ahead of Kirill Kaprizov in the Rocket Richard race and is on pace to crush his career high of 55 goals. He’s still finding ways to assist his teammates, with 29 helpers so far. That gives him 55 points, enough to rank as the second-highest scorer in the league. While Draisaitl is rightly receiving endless praise for his offensive performance, there’s another stat that’s being under-appreciated.

Draisaitl has a reputation for letting his emotions get the better of him at times, for better or worse. It’s a trait that has frustrated Oilers fans, especially when he’s taken undisciplined penalties that cost the team. Earlier in the season, against the Philadelphia Flyers, head coach Kris Knoblauch benched him after he took an unnecessary penalty. If you remember the game, you’ll recall the moment in question. Draisaitl’s apology to his coach, teammates, and fans came in the form of scoring the overtime winner.

That penalty against the Flyers meant Draisaitl opened the season with a minor penalty in four straight games. However, it also seemed to change him. While Draisaitl extended his point streak to 11 games against the Ducks, he also continued his penalty-free streak to 29 games. There was a moment during the San Jose game where he was called for a penalty, but the Sharks scored on the delayed call, so it didn’t register.

With only 10 penalty minutes this season, Draisaitl ranks 367th in the NHL. He’s keeping his game clean while averaging 21:18 of ice time, the eighth-most among forwards in all situations. Only Mitch Marner and Artturi Lehkonen have fewer penalties than him, while Connor McDavid also has 10 penalty minutes. The difference is that Marner, Lehkonen, and McDavid combined for 62 penalty minutes last season and don’t share Draisaitl’s emotional reputation. Meanwhile, Draisaitl racked up 76 penalty minutes during the 2023-24 season.

At this time last season, Draisaitl was 19th in the league with 48 penalty minutes in 34 games, putting him in the same company as Sam Bennett, Nikita Zadorov, and Erik Gudbranson. Thank goodness we’re not seeing that version of Draisaitl anymore. Instead, we’re witnessing a player focused on contributing positively with his offensive skillset.

Draisaitl won the Hart Trophy in the 2019-20 season, dominating the league offensively with 43 goals and 110 points—a career high at the time. He also finished that season with just 18 penalty minutes. A similar trend emerged during the 2022-23 season. While he didn’t win the MVP, he still scored 52 goals and 128 points, second only to McDavid.

Hopefully, Draisaitl can continue his penalty-free streak, as it’s clearly a trend that allows him to reach his full potential.

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