Leon Draisaitl drops 4-word reaction to rookie Ike Howard's first NHL goal with the Oilers

Edmonton rookie Ike Howard celebrated a milestone moment Tuesday night scoring his first NHL goal in the Oilers 3-2 overtime victory against the Ottawa Senators. Howard’s goal coming early in the second period, gave the Oilers a 2-0 lead and was met with widespread praise from teammates and fans.

Oilers star Leon Draisaitl reposted a congratulatory poster from the team’s Instagram account on his stories with an added caption, writing:

“First of many kiddo 🧊” while tagging Howard’s account.

Forward Zach Hyman also shared a congratulatory story featuring an ice cube and boy emoji along with the poster. The rookie goal came less than a month into Howard’s first professional season after a standout NCAA career at Michigan State where he won the Hobey Baker Award as the nation’s top collegiate player.

The Oilers had taken an early lead on the night during the first period when Connor McDavid scored his first goal of the season on the power play. Howard’s goal in the second period appeared to secure the lead but Ottawa fought back in the third. Dylan Cozens and Thomas Chabot scored to tie the game at 2-2 forcing overtime.

via Instagram /@drat_29, @zachhyman

In the extra period, Jake Walman scored the game-winning power-play goal at 2:24. Goaltender Stuart Skinner earned his 100th career win. Veteran forward Adam Henrique played in his 1,000th NHL game on the night, a feat Draisaitl recognized with a social media post captioned “1000 👏.”

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Ike Howard reflects on moment he will ‘remember forever’

During the postgame interview, Ike Howard reflected on the excitement of scoring his first NHL goal assisted by Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. He described the moment as unforgettable and shared how special it was to have two of the league’s top players involved in his first career goal.

“Yeah, I mean that's uh obviously super cool,” he said. “Going to be a moment I'll remember forever and to have those uh two guys in on the goal is pretty special and uh you know a couple great plays by them.”

Howard explained that the goal came on a quick two-on-one chance from a defensive disruption and mentioned the importance of staying ready for opportunities as they arise.

“I was just kind of coming out of the box and uh um I think Davo might have disrupted a play or something. Leo Leo had the puck and uh we had kind of a quick strike two-on-one just try to get open and uh he had a nice find,” he recounted.

The youngster added that the milestone also meant a lot to his family and friends many of whom were watching the game from home and likely celebrating alongside him.