Draisaitl 'game-breaker' for Oilers in Game 2 win against Canucks 

VANCOUVER -- Leon Draisaitl was questionable prior to Game 2 of the Western Conference Second Round against the Vancouver Canucks on Friday, but there was little question about his impact in the Edmonton Oilers' 4-3 overtime victory that tied the best-of-7 series 1-1.

Draisaitl had a goal and three assists to go with the goal and three assists from Connor McDavid as the Oilers battled back from three one-goal deficits.

Defenseman Evan Bouchard scored at 5:38 of overtime to give the Oilers the win and home-ice advantage with Games 3 and 4 at Rogers Place in Edmonton on Sunday and Tuesday, respectively.

“We didn’t know if he was going to play until after the warmup,” Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch said of Draisaitl. “We knew it was OK, he had a couple of shifts and then we had that first penalty kill and the face-off is on the one side and he’s looking over like, ‘Do you want me to take it?’ And as soon as he gave me that look, I knew he was going to be fine and he was going to have a heck of a game.”

Knoblauch decided to play Draisaitl and McDavid on the same line for the first time in these Stanley Cup Playoffs, with Zach Hyman on right wing. They were dominant along with the defense pair of Mattias Ekholm and Bouchard; the five totaled 10 points (four goals, six assists).

“Mostly it was to protect Leon and not have him play heavy minutes in the middle and face-offs," Knoblauch said. "It’s a little more physical, it’s a little more demanding on the body. We felt that if he played left wing, we could protect him. But there was no needing to protect him the way he played tonight and obviously, the way that line was playing, we weren’t going to put him back to center and just continued to play him there.”

Draisaitl was questionable after missing the final 7:58 of the second period in Game 1 with an undisclosed injury. He returned to play in the third but missed practice the following day. Knoblauch said Draisaitl’s absence was due to cramping and equipment issues after the 5-4 loss in Game 1.

On Friday, Draisaitl scored on the power play at 10:56 of the first period to tie it 1-1, countering the power-play goal that Elias Pettersson scored to give the Canucks the lead at 4:14.

McDavid and Draisaitl made the goal look easy, playing pitch-and-catch down in the right corner. Draisaitl took a return pass and snapped a shot past Arturs Silovs from the slot.

“Was there ever a question (he would play)? You guys know him,” said McDavid, the Oilers captain. “I thought there was lots of resilience. I thought we were a little bit unlucky to be down going into the third, but we stuck with it, we hung in there all night.”

Down 3-2 going into the third period, facing a 2-0 series deficit going home, Draisaitl, McDavid and the Oilers took over the game.

“If you look at Connor, his biggest asset is his speed and his control of that puck with that speed," Ekholm said. "Leon is a completely different player, he plays at a slower pace. He can get the whole game to slow down, so in that case, that maybe that worked to his advantage.

“I thought he was tremendous tonight, he was a game-breaker, he controlled the pace, he controlled the game as he always does, I thought he was great.”

Edmonton outshot Vancouver 15-2 in the third, including McDavid’s breakaway goal at 5:27, to battle back from behind for the third time and force overtime.

“I think we started to skate a little bit better and find our legs and just do what we do best,” Draisaitl said. “We’re a really good-skating, fast hockey team when we’re at our best. I think we smelled that a little bit and took over in the third. They’re obviously a good defending team, we know that, they keep things limited, but I thought we did a really good job.”

McDavid has 17 points (two goals, 15 assists) though seven playoff games to lead all players. Draisaitl is second with 16 points (six goals, 10 assists).

“McDavid and Draisaitl responded. They were unreal tonight and they were all over the ice,” Canucks coach Rick Tocchet said. “In the third, they were making a press. I just thought if we make some good passes, if we hold on to a puck, if we make a play, that's less possession time for them, but if we're just going to flip pucks out and give it back to him, of course they're [going to] keep coming down our throat.”

The win in Game 2 was the first time Edmonton defeated Vancouver this season. The Canucks won all four games in the regular season and made it five straight with a win in Game 1.

Finally breaking through against Vancouver gives Edmonton confidence heading home for the next two games, according to Draisaitl.

“It’s nice to get a win,” he said. “We lost four times in a row against them in the regular season and there’s a reason for that, and we weren’t at our best and they outplayed us during that time. But the playoffs are of course different, there’s a lot more at stake here and I’m just proud of the guys the way we battled back tonight. It was a good showing for us.”