Leon Draisaitl becomes the first German NHL player to reach the 1,000th-point milestone. And he did it on an assist against someone who was his teammate a week ago.
Edmonton Oilers center Leon Draisaitl assisted on a goal against former teammate Stuart Skinner to reach 1,000th NHL points on Tuesday.
Draisaitl becomes the first German NHL player to hit the milestone and the fifth player to reach the mark with the Oilers.
With just over eight minutes remaining in the first period, and with the Oilers on the power play, Draisaitl feathered a pass to Connor McDavid from one faceoff circle to another. McDavid found Zach Hyman in front of the net, and he jammed the puck past Skinner into the net.
Hyman skated over and gave a smiling Draisaitl a leaping hug as the Oilers players cleared the bench to celebrate the significant milestone.
Skinner, meanwhile, stood a few feet away, clearing the snow in his crease, looking onward and taking a drink from his bottle.
Four days earlier, the Oilers traded Skinner and defenseman Brett Kulak to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for netminder Tristan Jarry and depth forward Samuel Poulin.
"We're ripping off the band-aid right away," Skinner told reporters ahead of the game. "Kind of like it."
Only five other players in NHL history recorded their 1,000th career point on a goaltender they were previously teammates with, according to the NHL.
Former Vancouver Canucks center Henrik Sedin was the last to do it on Jan. 20, 2017, against Roberto Luongo and the Florida Panthers. Luongo even congratulated Sedin on the ice after the goal.
The other four are Rod Brind'Amour (Nov. 4, 2006, versus Martin Gerber), Phil Housley (Nov. 8, 1997, versus Curtis Joseph), Bernie Federko (March 19, 1988, versus Mike Liut) and Bryan Trottier (Jan. 29, 1985, versus Roland Melanson).
Speaking of Sedin, he and his twin brother, Daniel, lead the NHL for the most times a pair of teammates assisted on the same goal in league history, doing so 317 times. But Draisaitl and McDavid just got one spot closer to them.
With McDavid and Draisaitl assisting on the same goal for the 136th time, they passed former Oilers Wayne Gretzky and Paul Coffey for the fourth most ever.
Draisaitl's new teammate, Jarry, started in net against Skinner on Tuesday, wasting little time in making his return to Pittsburgh. He won his first start with the Oilers on Saturday against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Jarry's now-former teammate, Erik Karlsson, is the next-closest player to reach 1,000 points. It's unlikely another NHLer will reach that milestone this season, however. Karlsson and Matt Duchene are seven points away from 900, while Jonathan Toews is eight points away from 900.
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