Storybook performances lift Oilers over Canucks

There was no telling what was going to happen Friday night in Vancouver.

Two nights prior, the Oilers dropped Game 1 of their second-round series against the Canucks in ugly fashion. 4-1 Edmonton in the second period, they let four slip past them as the Canucks mounted a massive comeback.

For as much as the score stung, the fact that Leon Draisaitl was injured put things at DEFCON1. “Cramping and equipment issues,” it was called, but what it really was was a bone-chilling reality that for Game 2, they might have to find out how to navigate an important game without him.

But from the morning on, it was just another day in the office for Draisaitl.

“He went through his routine,” said Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch, admitting that when Draisaitl wasn’t out playing sewer ball warming up with his teammates before the game, “I kind of held my breath a bit.”

Fear not, Kris, as Draisaitl was more than good to go. He took warmups, let the staff know he was feeling good enough to play, and a goal, four points and a 4-3 overtime victory later, the rest is history.

“When he got off, he confirmed he was ready to play and boy, did he ever play.” 

“Not only does he do this once, but he’s done this multiple times,” added Knoblauch. “High ankle sprain a couple years ago, and you look at all-time points in the playoffs, it says quite a bit about him. I know the players have a lot of respect for him and what he does. He plays his best when it’s the most difficult.”

Loading Draisaitl up on the top line with Connor McDavid and Zach Hyman was more than just about putting the team’s three most offensively potent players together. It was about protecting Draisaitl, too.

After all, the centre position is the toughest of the forward group to play. Faceoffs are physical, and the body is required to get up and down the ice to cover key spots in all three zones. It turns out that wasn’t quite needed.

Even still, there was concern early in the game. Would Draisaitl be able to hold up throughout the game? Would the cramps he was dealing with flare up once again? It turns out that those concerns, too, weren’t needed.

“We didn’t know if he was going to play tonight until after the warm up. We really didn’t know,” Knoblauch said. “He had a couple shifts, then we had the first penalty kill, the faceoff was on the one side, and he’s looking over like ‘do you want me to take it?’

“As soon as he gave me that look, I knew ‘Okay we’re fine, he’s going to have a heckuva game.'”

Draisaitl’s night wasn’t the only spectacular one, as all eyes were on Connor McDavid, too. His Game 1 performance was paltry compared to what he usually brings, going all night without taking a single shot on goal.

The hope was that McDavid would be able to bounce back with a big performance, and boy, did he ever. Much like Draisaitl, McDavid scored a goal and four points, as the pair were in on each of the Oilers’ goals.

The night started off with McDavid setting up Draisaitl in the slot for a first period power play goal, where the latter had all the time in the world to pick his spot on a helpless Arturs Silovs. Then, a period later, the pair combined to set up Mattias Ekholm for what was the game-tying goal a mere 23 seconds after the Canucks took a lead.