Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl puts on show in loss to Knights
Defenseman Mattias Ekholm was on the wrong end of some special performances from star forward Leon Draisaitl during his time with the Nashville Predators.
It’s a lot more enjoyable to see it happen now that he’s a teammate with the Oilers.
“I’ve been on the other side of that for a lot of years,” said Ekholm, who was acquired by Edmonton at the trade deadline. “I’m just grateful to be on the right side of it now.
“He’s a tremendous hockey player, and he shows that night in and night out. He’s the one driving the bus for us right now, and it’s great to watch. I love the way he plays. I like the bite he has to his game as well. He’s just so good.”
Draisaitl had all four goals for the Oilers in Wednesday night’s 6-4 loss to the Golden Knights in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinal series at T-Mobile Arena.
All Knights coach Bruce Cassidy could do was laugh, though it might not have been as humorous had the score been flipped.
Cassidy stopped himself as he discussed what went wrong on Draisaitl’s final tally in the third period.
“That was his 11th goal of the playoffs,” Cassidy remarked after stopping in the middle of a thought. “Does that sound funny to you? His 11th goal? It’s the first game of the second round. I mean, unbelievable. So we lost some awareness on the transition, but I thought for the most part they had to earn (the goals).”
Draisaitl matched three other players in reaching 10 goals in just seven games of a single postseason in league history. Only Montreal’s Newsy Lalonde did so faster, eclipsing that mark in just four games in the 1919 postseason.
The Oilers, however, became just the fifth team in postseason history to lose a game in which a player had four goals. Dallas also did so Tuesday when the Stars fell to Seattle 5-4 in overtime despite four goals from Joe Pavelski.
Draisaitl wasn’t in the mood to take any solace in the accomplishment.
“Nope,” he said when asked if there was any joy in his individual effort despite the final score.
His goals came in a variety of ways. He opened the scoring with a one-timer on the power play, and his third goal also came on the man-advantage early in the third period on a scramble in front of the net. He got the Oilers back within one on a blast in transition in the third period.
But it was the second goal that may be remembered the most. Draisaitl scored in closing seconds of the first period when he somehow found an angle from the side of the net to bank the puck off the back of Laurent Brossoit and into the net.
“My first look is a pass, but it wasn’t there so I just thought I’d try it,” Draisaitl said.
It was a good decision.
“There’s special players that do special things, and we have some of them, too,” Cassidy said. “You just try to limit the chances he has to do something like that.
“You have to tip your hat. Credit to 29 (Draisaitl’s jersey number). He’s a great hockey player, and it doesn’t surprise me that he did that.”
A potential issue for the Knights going forward is that Draisaitl probably isn’t even the best player on the Oilers, a distinction typically reserved for Connor McDavid.
Knights forward Chandler Stephenson said his team didn’t need the outburst of goals Wednesday to remind them just how good Draisaitl can be.
“He’s so dynamic,” Stephenson said. “I don’t think there’s a weakness in his game. He has the size, the speed, the strength, the shot, the pass, the backhand. He has everything. In my opinion, he can be the best player in the league sometimes, too. So I think to be going against both of them, you have to make sure you’re on and try to take away as much time and space as you can and just be in good spots against them.”
Cassidy is confident that can happen.
“We’re aware of their top guys and the damage they can do, but we like our team,” he said. “We feel if our team plays well, we can have success.”
The Knights did on Wednesday, but Draisaitl vowed his team will respond.
“It’s nothing they did,” he said. “They’re a good team. We know that. But nothing we can’t handle or haven’t seen. This is just on us not bringing our best game.”
Game 2 is at 4 p.m. Saturday at T-Mobile Arena.
Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on Twitter.
