Vasily Podkolzin's goal last night meant more than it seemed

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Patrick Frost
November 24, 2024 (4:53 PM)

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The Edmonton Oilers are coming off an electrifying 6-2 victory over the New York Rangers, and forward Vasily Podkolzin rifled home his first goal of the season.

The Edmonton Oilers put together a full 60 minutes of hockey last night, with key contributions for depth players across the lineup.

With that in mind, Edmonton Oilers forward Vasily Podkolzin notched his first goal of the season last night, but an added element to the goal made it far more sentimental.

Vasily Podkolzin's parents have been in the Edmonton area for the past 3 weeks to watch their son play.

Although the Russian forward has asserted himself as a physical force on the ice, he's been snake bitten offensively.

At 17:34 in the 1st period, Vasily Podkolzin wired home his first goal of the season off a beautiful feed from Leon Draisaitl, and Rogers Place erupted with joy -- as did his parents.

After the game, Leon Draisaitl highlighted Vasily Podkolzin as a player, emphasizing
his remarkable play as of late.

»He's a really, really good hockey player. He's really underrated. He does a lot of things that go unnoticed, that a lot of people that don't understand hockey, they don't pick up on it He's really smart and he passes the puck really well. He makes the right plays almost every single time.»
- Leon Draisaitl

Head coach Kris Knoblauch also made himself available for his usual post game interviews, touching on the significance of having Podkolzin's parents in the crowd to witness his first goal as an Oiler.

»Time before practice, working hard in practice, spending more time after practice. He's been doing so many things right We've been using him on the penalty kill, moving him up the lineup to play with mostly Leon Finally. Finally one went in for him.»
- Coach Knoblauch

Vasily Podkolzin will look to carry his new-found swagger into next Friday's matchup against Utah Hc.