It’s strange that the NHL’s leading scorer and second-leading scorer isn’t even considered the best player on the team.
Welcome to the world of Leon Draisaitl.
Superstar captain Connor McDavid remains Edmonton’s champion, but Draisaitl once again showed why he deserves to be in 1B on Friday, scoring the go-ahead goal with 1:35 left to help the visiting Oilers. They won 3-2 against Anaheim.
The Oilers will look to extend their winning streak to three games Saturday night in Seattle, the first of four meetings against the Kraken this season.
Draisaitl’s game-winning goal was his league-best 28th goal of the season and his ninth win. He won the Hart Trophy as NHL MVP in the 2019-20 season and ranks second behind Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon (64) with 57 points.
McDavid, a three-time league MVP and five-time leading scorer, is tied for fourth with 54 points this season after missing three games due to injury.
“I take great pride in stepping up when it’s needed most,” Draisaitl said. “It’s really important to me and I’m proud of it.”
The Oilers scored the first two goals of the game before getting the Ducks back into the game.
“It wasn’t perfect by any means. Once you get a lead, you have to make sure you take it home,” Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse said. “But when we were finally challenged, we found a way to give us the final blow.”
Despite scoring the winning goal, Draisaitl was critical of his own performance.
“We had a lot of good shifts and good looks. Their goaltender made some big stops,” he said. “But overall, we had too many turnovers, especially with me and my line. We felt like we had momentum. Once we had it, the turnovers happened and then it was back and forth.” forward.
“It was mostly our policy, mostly me. It happens. Those games happen sometimes, and you just learn from them.”
On the other hand, the Kraken’s two-game winning streak ended with a 4-3 penalty shootout loss in Thursday’s game against Vancouver, even though they were forced into overtime from a two-goal deficit. Defenseman Vince Dunn scored the tying goal with 53 seconds left in the third period.
“We came back in the top three and were able to tie the score,” said Kraken forward Matty Beniers, who scored in three consecutive games. “It was a good fight back, but I think if we can put ourselves in a better situation going into the third, we can have more success.”
This was similar to last weekend’s historic upset in Vancouver. The Kraken became the third team in history to win a regular-season game by coming back from a three-point deficit with five minutes left in regulation time.
Despite leading 2-0-1, the Kraken still hold a seven-point lead for the Western Conference’s second and final wild-card playoff spot.
“Right now, it doesn’t really matter how we do it. We just have to keep collecting (scores),” defenseman Brandon Montour said. “We’re in a hole. We’re in a position where we need to get as many wins and as many points as possible.”
–Field level media
