BLOG: German players take centre stage on Sunday

EDMONTON, AB - The present and future of German hockey stardom were on display Sunday at Rogers Place as three of the country's top players were in action for the Oilers and Senators.
Leon Draisaitl delivered one of the most impressive seasons by a German professional athlete of all time in 2019-20 when he won the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer and followed that up by getting selected for the Hart Memorial Trophy as league MVP and the Ted Lindsay Award for most outstanding player as voted on by the NHLPA.
Draisaitl was recognized in his homeland this past December when he was named Germany's Sportsman of the Year, becoming just the second team-sport athlete to receive the prestigious honour in the 73-year history of the award, joining NBA legend Dirk Nowitzki.
About a week after the Oilers forward received that honour, fellow German third-overall NHL Draft selection Tim Stutzle began his impressive run at the World Junior Championship in Edmonton as he scored five goals and five assists in five games to get selected as the tournament's top forward.
Fast-forward to Sunday night and the two German stars got to face each other for the first time in the NHL. Together with fellow countryman and Oilers forward Dominik Kahun, they posed for a photo at centre ice during pre-game warmup.
"I really like the way he plays and the way he conducts himself on and off the ice," Stutzle said of Draisaitl. "That helps a lot of young players. He's an idol for every German hockey player. He's getting known throughout the hockey world. It's a great thing for German hockey."
All three Germans contributed in the eventual 8-5 Oilers win, as Draisaitl came one assist shy of matching a league record by putting up six helpers, Kahun scored Edmonton's first goal of the game, and Stutzle tallied a highlight-reel snipe in the third period.
Thanks to the all-Canadian alignment, the Deutschland dynamos will get to play against one another eight more times this season, with the next matchup on the docket for Tuesday at 8pm MT.