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Leon Draisaitl wins it in overtime on his birthday!
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Leon Draisaitl wins it in overtime on his birthday!

The Edmonton Oilers got a lot of help from a not-so-secret weapon Sunday night in birthday boy Leon Draisaitl.

It was the 29th birthday of Oilers number 29 and he had as good a game as could have been expected, contributing to all three Oilers points in the game, including the overtime winner.

The Oilers began overtime with the man advantage for just a few seconds, which would allow them to gain the offensive zone and it wasn’t long before they put the game away for good. It all started with a great pass from Oilers captain Connor McDavid that found an open Mattias Ekholm at the opposite end of the ice, and Ekholm then faked a shot that was a disguised pass to Leon Draisaitl who ended up with a wide open cage in front of him.

Draisaitl made no mistake, neatly deflecting the puck past Red Wings goaltender Cam Talbot who was excellent throughout the game despite the Red Wings losing. Draisaitl may not have made much of the fact that this game was on his birthday, but, if the excitement on his face after the goal was any indication, he was definitely feeling it in that moment.

Draisaitl received a special gift when he retreated to the locker room and took a moment to talk to the media about his big win, some cupcakes to celebrate his big day, but apparently he didn’t eat them and instead did something very classy by handing out his treats to members of the Oilers staff.