During Monday’s episode of The Hockey News Podcast, Matt Larkin and Ryan Kennedy discussed the Hart Trophy race and whether Leon Draisaitl was the clear-cut frontrunner. They did all of this, of course, not knowing what Draisaitl was about to go out and accomplish Monday night against the Nashville Predators.
Through 40 minutes, it had been a relatively quiet night for Draisaitl, who had hit the 40-goal plateau with a tally late in the first frame. But mere minutes into the third period, Draisaitl began to take over. Little more than 30 seconds after Connor McDavid had given the Edmonton Oilers a 4-3 lead, Draisaitl doubled the gap with his second marker of the game.