Over the last 48 hours, Joe Pavelski and Leon Draisaitl have joined an exclusive — though not desirable — club. They are just the third and fourth players, respectively, to tally all four or more of their team’s goals in a playoff loss.
On Tuesday night, Pavelski made his triumphant return to the ice after leaving Game 1 of Dallas’ first-round series vs. the Wild with an injury. He scored four goals to lead the Stars to a third-period comeback against the Seattle Kraken. Ultimately, his effort was all for naught. Yanni Gourde scored in overtime to give the Kraken a 5-4 win in Game 1.
Almost exactly 24 hours later, Draisaitl and the Edmonton Oilers were in Las Vegas to play the Golden Knights in Game 1 of their second-round series. Draisaitl opened the scoring with a power play goal in a back-and-forth affair, and he added three more throughout the game, but Vegas outscored him for a 6-4 win on Wednesday night.
According to ESPN Stats and Info, Denis Savard and Ray Ferraro are the only other players to account for all of their team’s four (or more) goals and still lose.
In Game 2 of the 1986 Division Semifinals, Savard gave his Chicago Blackhawks a 4-2 lead over the Toronto Maple Leafs late in the second period. But the Leafs then roared back for a 6-4 win, and they went on to sweep Chicago in Game 3
In the 1993 Division Semifinals between the New York Islanders and Washington Capitals, the Caps held a 5-1 lead in Game 5. Ferraro already had the Isles’ only tally, and he attempted to bring them back single handedly. Ferraro scored three more goals in the third period to bring the Islanders within a goal before Washington scored an empty-net goal to ice the game. At least New York would go on to win that series, 4-2.
Pavelski and Draisatl are now part of this bittersweet club. They both delivered epic playoff performances, but their teams trail 1-0 in the respective series. We’ll see if their teammates can lend a hand the rest of the way.
