EDMONTON, Alberta — Edmonton Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch defended the play of center Leon Draisaitl, the second-leading playoff scorer yet to record a point in the Stanley Cup Final ahead of Game 4 on Saturday at night.
Draisaitl scored 28 points in 18 games before the final. Among them, 10 goals, the second on the team behind winger Zach Hyman (14). Draisaitl had not scored three games in a row this season.
“Obviously I’ve seen Leon play better, but to say he’s playing poorly is very unfair. I think he’s helping a lot,” said Knoblauch, whose team trails Florida 3-0 and faces elimination in Game 4.
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Draisaitl is third on the team in shots on goal (9) and fourth in shot attempts (16) in all situations. Although he has had opportunities on an Oilers power play that is now 0-for-10 in the series, he has generated just two shots on goal and four shot attempts at 5-on-5, where the Panthers are masterful defensively. He leads the team with 21 giveaways in all situations.
Florida has not allowed a 5-on-5 goal to the Oilers’ top five scorers (Draisaitl, Hyman, Connor McDavid, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Evan Bouchard) in the series. The Panthers also had stars like New York Rangers winger Artemi Panarin, Boston Bruins winger David Pastrnak and Tampa Bay Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov without a 5-on-5 goal in the series. prior to the final.
Draisaitl, who was robbed by goalie Sergei Bobrovsky on a sliding stop in Game 3, criticized his own performance after the Oilers’ latest loss.
“Yes, it’s very frustrating, of course. I pride myself on being good in the playoffs and playing well, and I can’t seem to do anything. Obviously I have to look in the mirror and try to be better,” he said. saying.
Knoblauch said even if Draisaitl doesn’t score, he helps the team. The coach noted that the cross was the catalyst for Ryan McLeod’s third-period goal in Game 3 even though he didn’t get an assist on the play.
“Yes, it’s not very often that León stays off the scoreboard like he has, but I think he’s been contributing,” he said. “He doesn’t hide anything. He doesn’t make excuses. Very often players make excuses like, ‘Well, things haven’t gone well because of this and I’ve had bad luck,’ all that, but León takes a lot of time.” in almost every game I’ve seen him.”
The Oilers are convinced they were more than pretty good in the Stanley Cup Final despite their deficit. The talk leading up to Game 4 has been about how they have outplayed the Panthers.
“We feel like we’ve kept the play going for most of the series. I think it makes the situation we’re in less daunting,” forward Connor Brown said. “We’ve shown that the one thing about our club throughout the year is that when we’re backed into a corner that’s when we feel most comfortable and that’s when we seem to play our best.”
To get into that bounce-back mentality, former defenseman Duncan Keith spoke to the Oilers after their Game 3 loss, trying to inspire them by sharing his own comeback story: When his Chicago Blackhawks rallied from a 3-0 deficit against Vancouver Canucks in 2011. Western Conference quarterfinals to force a Game 7.
“I was talking to the players. Nothing formal, just hanging around,” Knoblauch said. “When you have a good team, a lot of good players who believe, things can happen.”
The Blackhawks would lose to the Canucks in overtime in Game 7 and be eliminated from the playoffs.
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