Game 4 hero Leon Draisaitl inspired the Oilers' momentum swing on and off the ice

New York Times

a day ago

SUNRISE, Fla. – Rest is a weapon.
Unless you're already among the biggest weapons in the NHL.
Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid did not rest when faced with the challenge of getting the Edmonton Oilers back into this Stanley Cup Final. They set the tone at a hastily called practice Tuesday following a 6-1 loss in Game 3 where the Oilers got 'waxed a little bit,' according to Draisaitl, and they covertly returned to the Florida Panthers practice rink again Wednesday for another skate with the team's extras and scratches.
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So it was only fitting that when a titanic Game 4 required everyone involved to work a little overtime, Draisaitl pushed through and made the play that sealed a 5-4 Oilers victory.
'Fatigue kicks in at some point, but your adrenaline usually takes over and you just chip away, chip away at it,' he said in the early morning hours of Friday, after scoring his fourth overtime winner of these playoffs – establishing a new NHL record.
Draisaitl's winner was all about a little extra effort. He had just jumped over the boards to replace McDavid when linemate Vasily Podkolzin fired a desperation pass in his direction.
'You have to risk it sometimes, especially in overtime,' said Podkolzin. 'I got lucky that this pass (went) through.'
Draisaitl took the puck in stride on his backhand and poked it towards the net with only his right hand gripping the stick because he was using his body to fend off a backchecking A.J. Greer from behind and facing a sprawling Niko Mikkola in front of him.
The puck banked off the inside of Mikkola's leg and found its way through Sergei Bobrovsky to send this Stanley Cup Final series back to Edmonton tied 2-2 while reserving multiple new entries for Draisaitl in the NHL's record book.
'He's always dangerous,' said Oilers defenseman Jake Walman. 'It doesn't matter if he's got two guys ragged on his back or what. He's a beast. He can do it all for us.'
Draisaitl now has the overtime winner for both Edmonton wins in this series, becoming just the third player in NHL history to score two OT goals in the same Final after Montreal's John LeClair in 1993 and Don Raleigh of the New York Rangers in 1950.
You can certainly make a case that Draisaitl has become the new favorite to take home the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP — he leads all skaters with seven points in the Final — but that's not what is pushing him to dig as deep as humanly possible right now.
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Draisaitl is on a mission to ensure this Stanley Cup rematch goes in a different direction than last year. Twelve months ago, he entered the Final with a hand injury and didn't manage to score a goal during the seven-game loss to Florida — in a series where his team effectively fell one goal short.
Following the dispiriting 6-1 loss the Oilers endured at Amerant Bank Arena on Monday night, it was Draisaitl who spoke up afterwards in the dressing room. He reminded his teammates to stay positive and recognize that the entire feel of the series would shift back in their favor if they could bounce back with a win in Game 4.
Then he went out and made sure it happened with two assists in addition to his overtime winner.
'I don't know what could be said that really conveys what he brings to our team,' said Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch. 'Not only in leadership, but in play. He has just elevated his game in the toughest moments. He knew that we had an opportunity to get back in this series and change the momentum.
'Our best players had to step up and play well and I believe all of our best players did that tonight.'
Just as notable was how they approached the two-day break between games in the series.
Remember that it's mid-June and both teams have emptied their tanks to get this far. This NHL season is more than 250 days old. It's no coincidence why so many players take every extra opportunity the schedule affords them to rest up for games — something that's arguably even more important in a series that has already seen parts of four overtime periods on top of travel this extensive.
And yet Drasaitl and McDavid — who have played 106:30 and 116:49 high-leverage minutes, respectively, in this series so far — put their hard hats on during the most important work trip to Fort Lauderdale imaginable.
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'It's not easy doing that, especially when you get some (optional skates) and it's easy to take the day off,' said Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner. 'And for our guys to lead the way and to say, 'Hey, we're right at the finish line, I know we're all tired and exhausted but it's time to go even harder,' that's the message that they've been giving us and we're not going to take that lightly.'
They both talked the talk and walked the walk on a night Knoblauch described as 'exhausting' and 'stressful.'
By now, the Oilers know that they can count on Draisaitl to deliver something special when these games need a hero. So often in these playoffs he's been the man.
'Because he's one of the best players in the world,' said Podkolzin. 'That's why.'