Oilers’ Leon Draisaitl gets brutally honest on ‘unlucky’ own goal to lose Game 3

It’s the nature of sports that people will pile on your mistakes before they praise your accomplishments. The Edmonton Oilers wouldn’t have been in Game 3 against the Vegas Golden Knights without Leon Draisaitl’s two assists, but it was his own goal with 0.4 seconds remaining that everyone is talking about.

The game looked destined for overtime with the clock winding down, before Reilly Smith threw a shot on net that was heading wide. Draisaitl attempted to help Stuart Skinner by getting behind his flailing goaltender, but the superstar tipped the puck into the Oilers’ net as he has done to opponents many times before.

After the game, Draisaitl kept it in perspective, as he knows sometimes the puck won’t bounce his way. The number of things that had to go wrong for him on the play is enough to chalk it up to just being unlucky.

“We didn’t sort it out very well to let the puck get into the slot. After that, it’s unlucky, it’s unfortunate,” Draisaitl said. “It goes off my stick, and I’m just trying to keep it out of the net. It’s just a bad bounce.”

The Oilers are still in a fine spot. They are up 2-1 in the series with another home game on Monday evening, and the Golden Knights could be without their captain, Mark Stone, as he left Game 3 with an injury. The Oilers are also awaiting an update on Calvin Pickard’s status.

Leon Draisaitl and Oilers’ offense have been good