Leon Draisaitl hits 50 goals this season with the late equalizer before scoring the OT winner on Saturday in the Battle of Alberta to give the Oilers two massive points in a 3-2 victory over the Flames
EDMONTON, AB – King Leon, we are simply not worthy.
Forward Leon Draisaitl recorded the late tying goal to reach 50 goals for the fourth time in his career before he scored the overtime winner in his return from a four-game injury absence on Saturday in the Battle of Alberta, giving the Edmonton Oilers two massive points in a 3-2 victory over the Calgary Flames.
The German reached the 50-goal mark with the equalizer with 3:12 remaining in the third period before scoring 2:25 into the extra frame to complete the late rally from the Oilers that was led heroically by their superstar, who also added an assist in the middle stanza on Viktor Arvidsson’s 11th goal of the campaign.
Edmonton’s huge victory over their rivals was propped up by 26 saves from goaltender Calvin Pickard, who made the stop on Nazem Kadri in overtime that led to Draisaitl’s winner at the other end, and two assists from Darnell Nurse, who reached 30 points in a season for the seventh straight campaign.
With the victory, the Oilers move themselves eight points clear of the Flames for third place in the Pacific Division, while the two points on Saturday puts them level with the Los Angeles Kings on 89 points with a 42-26-5 overall record.
“It was great. That’s an urgent group over there,” Draisaitl said. “Obviously, they’re in a fight and so are we, so I thought it was great the way we stuck with it and I thought that was really well done. They’re not all pretty, but I thought we played a solid game.”
The Blue & Orange now embark on a four-game Pacific road trip where they’ll face off against the Golden Knights, Sharks, Kings and Ducks starting on Tuesday at T-Mobile Arena against the division leaders in Vegas.
Draisaitl scores twice including the OT winner in the Battle of Alberta
After Brett Kulak took a holding penalty against Brayden Pachal below the Edmonton goal line to award Calgary an early power play, the game was temporarily paused for over 10 minutes to allow first responders to attend to attend to an medical emergency in the stands, with the concern of fans, coaches and players alike inside Rogers Place quickly turning the individual involved in hopes of a positive outcome.
The Edmonton Oilers are sending their best wishes to the fan and want to give a huge thank you to the paramedics, doctors and everyone involved who helped handle the difficult situation with swift action and the outmost professionalism in caring for their well-being.
When the ‘OK’ was given for play to resume, the Flames wouldn’t convert on their power play, but they were able to open the scoring over a minute after Kulak had exited the box.
Nazem Kadri had a low shot from the right circle kicked away by the right pad of Calvin Pickard, but Yegor Sharangovich was attacking the back post and put away the rebound to give the visitors a 1-0 lead 4:32 into the first period.
Kris speaks after the win over Calgary & Draisaitl reached 50 goals
Later in the period, the Oilers had a chance to get it back on the man advantage with Leon Draisaitl back operating in his usual spot inside the right circle, and the German forward came inches away from goal No. 50 this season when he whizzed a quick snap shot through traffic past the far post.
Troy Stecher was shaken up after colliding with Blake Coleman in the corner and having the Calgary forward’s skate come in close contact with his face, but the Oilers defenceman was able to shake it off and take another shift before the intermission.
On a late odd-man rush with under 30 seconds left in the frame, Draisatl had another shot at reaching 50 goals on a two-on-one with Kasperi Kapanen, but his snap shot was turned aside by a smart save by goalie Dustin Wolf with the right pad to keep Calgary ahead 1-0 after the first period.
Darnell speaks after recording two assists in Saturday’s win over Calgary
Keep shooting, Leon, and eventually, it’ll come – for both you and the Blue & Orange.
But if you didn’t know already, he’s a pretty good passer, too.
Chances during an otherwise quiet second period started to pick up around its midway point, where after an in-close stop by Calvin Pickard against winger Adam Klapka for his first major intervention of the contest, Draisaitl took further aim at No. 50 with back-to-back dangerous scoring opportunities.
The German was found wide open in the slot from behind the net by a terrific pass from below the goal line from Vasily Podkolzin that forced Wolf into coming up with the stop on the League’s leading goal scorer, who was starting to feel it in his return from a four-game injury absence on Saturday.
Draisaitl had another good opportunity on a two-on-one with Zach Hyman that came off a neutral-zone exchange to catch the Flames, electign to shoot but being unable to catch Wolf short side to tie the game.
“I didn’t really hit my spots on those two-on-ones, to be honest” he said. “And the second one, he made a really nice stop.”
But the Deutschland Dangler’s cross-ice pass to pick out Viktor Arvidsson at 3:40 of the middle frame would help produce the tying goal for the Oilers.
Arvidsson goes short side on Wolf to square the Battle of Alberta at 1-1
Defenceman Joel Hanley got a piece of Draisaitl’s pass with his stick, but that touch wasn’t enough to change the puck’s course before it landed on Arvidsson’s stick for a shot that snuck through under Wolf’s right arm to tie the game at 1-1 with his 11th goal of the season.
The Swedish winger scored his first goal against the Flames as a member of the Oilers, and Leon Draisaitl and Darnell Nurse both picked up the assists.
It wouldn’t be the Battle of Alberta without a bit of animosity, and that element picked up during a scrum after the whistle that followed Calvin Pickard getting snowed by Mikael Backlund after making a massive double save on a breakaway for Calgary winger Joel Farabee in the final minute of the frame.
Winger Corey Perry came to the rescue of teammate Kasperi Kapanen, who was aggressively pulled to the ice by Rasmus Andersson by the collar of his jersey before the veteran ended up rag-dolling Backlund for a huge roar from the Rogers Place crowd. Perry earned the extra two minutes for roughing, but Edmonton was able to kill off the rest of the period and the remaining 1:17 of his infraction of his infraction in the third period.
The Battle was on.
Leon discusses reaching 50 goals & scoring the OT winner vs. Calgary
A half-century of reign for King Leon, and long may he keep the throne.
When the Oilers needed him the most, trailing 2-1 to the Flames with only a few minutes remaining, the German superstar picked the perfect moment to reach 50 goals in a season for the fourth time in his career with the clutch equalizer that resulted in the Blue & Orange getting to overtime and earning a point.
“The tight games are always a little bit more special and a little bit more fun to be in,” he said. “I thought we played well for the most part, hung in there and obviously, sometimes, you have to win those games.”
It took the Flames one breakthrough at their own blueline just under eight minutes into the final frame to find the go-ahead goal after Ty Emberson tried to keep it inside the zone before Kadri intercepted came up the ice on a partial three-on-two and found Brayden Pachal skating into the slot for a wrist shot that beat Calvin Pickard over the right pad.
If there was ever going to be a good time for Leon to score his 50th goal of the season, there was no better moment than the Battle of Alberta.
On a quick counter-attack that was started at the Flames bench by a spin-around pass from Evan Bouchard across the ice to Draisaitl, the League’s leading scorer picked it up and walked in along the right side with the help of Zach Hyman to tuck away his 50th goal inside the far post, drawing a monstrous roar from the Edmonton faithful inside Rogers Place and chants of “MVP! MVP! MVP!” for his incredible accomplishment and a tie game in the Battle of Alberta.
“It’s elite hockey sense,” Draisaitl said of Bouchard’s pass. “That kickstarted the entire play, and then Hyman actually made a really nice subtle play on the defenceman’s stick to give me time to change the angle a bit. So lots of good plays on that goal.”
Draisaitl reaches 50 goals with the game-tying tally in the third period
Hail to the King, baby.
No. 29 for the Oilers couldn’t wait more than a few minutes to score his 51st goal on the campaign and lift the roof off Rogers Place on Saturday with the OT winner 2:25 into the extra frame, securing a huge victory for his team over a rival that he’s thoroughly dominated over his career and in recent contests.
The Flames had possession for much of the first half of overtime until an up-high save by Calvin Pickard against Nazem Kadri sent the Oilers the other way on an odd-man rush, with Draisaitl starting the play by outmuscling Kadri and making the outlet pass up to Jeff Skinner in the neutral zone.
As he trailed in as the third man, there was only player who was going to take the shot, and that was Edmonton’s target man, who took a return feed from Skinner and dragged it into the slot and went back across Wolf again by putting the game-winner off the post and in to seal the all-important extra point.
With his 50th and 51st goals of the season and an assist on Arvidsson’s second-period marker, Draisaitl now has 12 goals and 49 assists for 61 career points in 48 career games against Calgary – the most he’s recorded against the club of among active Oilers and his most he’s recorded against any team.
In his last 14 regular-season games against Calgary, he’s picked up 28 points (9G, 19A), and his two goals on Saturday night in his return from four games out because of injury couldn’t have been better timed, earning the Oilers two huge points in the Pacific Division playoff race.
Draisaitl ends the game in overtime with his 51st of the season
