NHL
Draisaitl celebrates comeback win with Oilers
Edmonton’s Darnell Nurse (25) and Leon Draisaitl (r, 29) celebrate a goal Photo
© Jason Franson/The Canadian Press/AP/dpa
Three points from national hockey player Leon Draisaitl helped the Edmonton Oilers make a comeback and their first win at the start of the NHL season.
Three points from national hockey player Leon Draisaitl helped the Edmonton Oilers make a comeback and their first win at the start of the NHL season.
The Oilers were already 3-0 down against the Vancouver Canucks before Draisaitl (26) scored to make it 3-1 and set up the other two goals from Connor McDavid and Darnell Nurse. The decisive goals for the 5:3 success were then marked by Draisaitl’s congenial strike partner McDavid.
“You don’t want to start a game like that, but we fought back. It’s a great job to stay there,” said Draisaitl after the game. McDavid added: “It was the first game and maybe some were a bit jittery. It certainly wasn’t our best game to start with, but we found a way to fight our way back into the game.”
In the parallel game, Philipp Grubauer in goal for the Seattle Kraken lost 4:5 to the Anaheim Ducks despite a 4:2 lead. Grubauer (30) parried 22 shots, which corresponds to a rate of 81 percent. However, his opponent John Gibson had an outstanding evening and fended off 44 of 48 attempts (91 percent). Troy Terry scored his second goal with 55 seconds left in extra time to seal the game. Ducks pro Mason McTavish (19), the third pick in the 2021 draft, had two assists and is only the third player in NHL history to have multiple points in his first two season openers, ages 18 and 19.
Defending champions Colorado Avalanche started the season with a 5-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks.