Leon Draisaitl gave all he had in last season’s Stanley Cup final.
The Edmonton Oilers centre — hand and ribs injuries hampering his superstar ability — gutted it out with 10 goals and 11 assists across the whole of the playoffs for a team that fell just short at the last hurdle.
Just over 11½ months later, Draisaitl is healthy. And with Connor McDavid by his side, the big German stepped up for the Oilers in the opener of a title series rematch against the defending champ.
Draisaitl scored on a power play at 19:29 of overtime Wednesday as the Oilers came back from a 3-1 deficit in the second period to beat the Florida Panthers 4-3 and take a 1-0 lead in what looks like another mouth-watering matchup for hockey’s holy grail.
“It’s tough to describe,” Draisaitl, who has now found the back of the net nine times this spring, said of his winner. “Some incredible plays that made it pretty ‘easy’ for me to put that home. It’s a special feeling.”
McDavid took a pass from Corey Perry before finding Edmonton’s No. 29 for him to bury his second goal of the night — and third OT breakthrough of the post-season to tie a league record — inside an incandescent Rogers Place on Sergei Bobrovsky after Tomas Nosek was whistled for delay of game.
“You can’t put a number on it,” McDavid said when asked to quantify what Draisaitl brings. “He’s invaluable. Clutch, face-offs you name it, he does it. He doesn’t get enough respect or credit for his defensive capabilities. There’s maybe nobody better.”
Draisaitl’s OT winner lifts Oilers over Panthers in Game 1 of Stanley Cup Final
Draisaitl, whose parents were sitting in the stands behind Bobrovsky’s net in OT, reflected on being at full strength compared to the sick bay the group had going in 2024.
“Some of our guys got pretty banged up early last year,” he said. “Sometimes the fatigue just seems to set in a little bit quicker. It’s nice to nice to feel good and healthy.
“Hopefully it stays that way.”
Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said the fact his team defeated both the Vegas Golden Knights and Dallas Stars in five games this spring after opening with a 4-2 series win over the Los Angeles Kings has helped his roster’s overall health — other than winger Zach Hyman, who’s out with a dislocated wrist.
“Certainly he was banged up and not 100 per cent I think a lot of our team was,” Knoblauch said of Draisaitl last post-season.
“This year, we had two long breaks after series gave us a lot of time to recover, and just helped everybody and the injury aspect. We’re pretty fortunate right now.”
The Oilers fell behind the Panthers 3-0 in last year’s final before winning three straight to force a winner-take-all showdown that Florida took on home ice.
Edmonton drew first blood Wednesday on a night where its stars led the way in key moments.
With the Oilers down 3-2 in the second period, McDavid found Mattias Ekholm in front for him to score his first of the playoffs after the Panthers choked off the middle of the ice.
What would Oilers fans give up for the Stanley Cup?
McDavid and Draisaitl then combined, as they have so many times, to push Edmonton over the top.
“I don’t really have words for you guys,” Oilers winger Kasperi Kapanen, who joined the club off the waiver wire and provided two assists Wednesday, said of that dynamic duo. “These guys are generational talents, and then future Hall of Famers.”
“I’ve seen them do it many times,” Skinner added. “Hopefully I’m able to see them do it a lot more.”
Draisaitl, of course, knows the job is far from done after Edmonton topped a Florida team that entered 31-0 when leading after the first or second period in the playoffs since the team’s first Cup final run in 2023.
“It’s great for right now,” Draisaitl said. “But we’ve got to look ahead and get ready for Game 2.”
That goes Friday back at Rogers Place.
