Stanley Cup Final: Leon Draisaitl Is The Edmonton Oilers' Overtime Hero
EDMONTON – It was a cruel twist of fate for the Florida Panthers but a beautiful result for the Edmonton Oilers as Leon Draisaitl scored the overtime-winner on the power play off a feed from Connor McDavid.
The Panthers were attempting to kill a puck-over-the-glass penalty when Draisaitl scored with 31 seconds remaining to give his Oilers first blood in the Stanley Cup final.
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"I'm the beneficiary, but the work was done before that," Draisaitl said post-game. "(Corey Perry) with a great play to (McDavid) then an amazing pass, and I'm the beneficiary. There were lots of great plays on that play. It made it 'easy' for me to put that home."
The game got off to a great start for the Oilers, as Draisaitl pounced on a long Sergei Bobrovsky rebound a little more than a minute into the contest to give Edmonton a 1-0 lead.
McDavid nearly made it 2-0 when he hit the post on a shorthanded rush, but special teams would turn the tide soon after.
The Panthers tied up the game midway through the first on a screen shot from Carter Verhaeghe that went off Sam Bennett in front of the net. The Oilers challenged the play for goalie interference but were rebuffed as officials ruled that Brett Kulak had pushed Bennett.
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Not only did Florida have the game knotted up, but the Panthers were also given a power play for Edmonton's failed challenge. The Cats made the Oilers pay on that man advantage as Brad Marchand popped in an easy one after he was left alone by the side of the net.
Three consecutive power plays – two for Edmonton, one for Florida – dominated later in almost comical fashion as Corey Perry took a tripping call right off the faceoff for Anton Lundell's previous interference call. Not long after, Aaron Ekblad put Florida down again when he held Draisaitl.
Leon Draisaitl (Perry Nelson-Imagn Images)
Florida got off to the quick start in the second as the Oilers lost Bennett on the rush, leaving him open for a beautiful feed from Nate Schmidt two minutes into the frame. But Edmonton bounced back soon after when Viktor Arvidsson powered a slap shot past Bobrovsky.
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After that, however, both goaltenders stood tall in the middle period. Bobrovsky thwarted excellent chances by Jake Walman, Trent Frederic and Evan Bouchard, while Stuart Skinner kept things close for the Oilers with great consecutive stops on Aleksander Barkov and Schmidt.
"He gave us a chance to win, and that's what you ask of your goalie," McDavid said of Skinner. "He made some big saves in the second and in overtime."
The Oilers found life in the third, however, when McDavid danced toward the net with the puck only to dish it off to Mattias Ekholm, who buried a wrister to even up the score.
Edmonton carried the play for much of the frame outshooting Florida 14-2, though the contest remained tied. Regulation solved nothing, so the Cup final kicked off with overtime, where one of the best chances came on a Kasperi Kapanen rush. The Oilers right winger split the 'D' and rang one off the post, nearly sending the building into hysterics.
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With less than two minutes to go, Tomas Nosek took a puck-over-the-glass penalty and ultimately, the Oilers made the Cats pay, taking a 1-0 series lead.
Draisaitl and McDavid each had two points tonight.
"Ever since I got here, they don't take many nights off, that's for sure," Brett Kulak said of Draisaitl and McDavid. "They're usually our top guys every single night, and the bigger the stage, the better they get."
The Hockey News Playoff Frenzy Live: Join The Chat As Oilers Host Panthers In Game 1 Of Cup Final
The Hockey News Playoff Frenzy Live: Join The Chat As Oilers Host Panthers In Game 1 Of Cup Final Welcome to The Hockey News Playoff Frenzy Live, streaming during the NHL's Stanley Cup playoffs.
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Game 2 goes down on Friday in Edmonton at 8 p.m. ET.
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