EDMONTON — Sometimes great players have bad games.
And sometimes, a team just gets what it deserves.
Leon Draisaitl was a culprit on three goals against in a 4-3 loss, cancelling out his two-assist night when he tipped the winning goal into his own net with 0.4 seconds to play.
It was just that kind of night for Draisaitl, the NHL’s only 50-goal, 100-point player this season, who had buried the overtime winner in Game 2 just two nights previous.
But on this night at Rogers Place — after a turnover at the Vegas blue line that led to the Golden Knights’ first goal, and a sloppy change that led to the second one — a puck that looked like it would miss the net altogether hit Draisaitl’s stick and went in for the game-winning goal with less than a second to play.
It was a wasteful final 10 seconds for an Oilers team that had tied the game with just 3:02 left — on a lucky bounce of their own, off of Brayden McNabb’s foot — to allow the Golden Knights any sort of chance in the final seconds.
“We didn’t sort it out very well, to let the puck get into the slot,” said Draisaitl of the final few seconds. “After that, it’s just unlucky. It’s unfortunate. It goes off my stick — I’m just trying to keep it out of the net, obviously. It’s just a bad bounce.”
If it’s true that you earn your breaks, then Vegas had The Big One coming in Game 3.
They had been the better team for the lion’s share of Game 2 before losing on Draisaitl’s OT winner, and were the superior team again in Game 3. The Oilers had no business going into overtime again, and alas, they never got there.
“It’s a little inconsistent the last two nights,” said Draisaitl. “Stretches where we’re playing really well, and then stretches where we’re giving up a little too much, spending too much in our D zone. So we’ll look at it.”
There isn’t a team in the world that wouldn’t love to have Draisaitl having the odd off night in their uniform, already a walk-in Hall of Famer at age 29 and a Hart Trophy finalist again this season.
On a good night — most nights — he’s a lethal mix of scorer, set-up man, faceoff specialist and defensive stalwart. On the rare off night Saturday, when all the things that make him great aren’t quite there, the chances he takes and his back-checking regimen ended up being his greatest faults, the last guy trying back to save a goal who ended up deflecting the puck in the wrong direction.
This loss started well before that, however.
Edmonton took a quick 2-0 lead on two Corey Perry goals, then they slowed down a step. In the last five minutes of Period 1, the Golden Knights cashed twice in 54 seconds to erase the Oilers’ hot start, and from that moment to the end of the game, there was absolutely zero doubt which was the better, hungrier hockey team.
“The first one, I get stripped there,” Draisaitl said. “That puck should probably just go in, so that’s on me. I think just the quickness of the two of them deflated us a little bit.”
Look — you don’t get to win every night, let alone come from behind as the Oilers had for six straight games. Winning a seventh playoff game in come-from-behind fashion is tough, and doing it against a veteran Vegas team that faced a 3-0 series deficit is even tougher — perhaps verging on the impossible.
“Vegas is a good team, they’re not going away,” said Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch. “If you were to tell us we’d be up 2-1 after three, we’d be very happy. We’d be pleased. Not only up 2-1, but with Game 4 at home (Monday night). We’re looking forward to it.”
The game marked the return of Stuart Skinner in goal, and he was every bit good enough in a game where his team rolled out its worst defensive effort since Game 2 versus L.A.
He looked shaky on Vegas’ first goal, and forced Reilly Smith to a position where his shot was going across the crease on the game-winner — until Draisaitl’s stick got in the way.
“It’s devastating, but things happen. Good bounces, tough bounces. It happens for everybody,” said Skinner after the game. “That’s a goalie’s job, just to give your team a chance to win every night. I thought I did. I was happy that I was able to make a couple of big saves when we needed it, but I wasn’t able to finish it out.”
A major development was when Vegas captain Mark Stone did not emerge from the dressing room for the second period. He was not seen again, and the Golden Knights may have to figure out how to win Game 4 without their leading goal scorer and top-line right winger.
“He’s our captain, a heart and soul guy on our team,” said defenceman Noah Hanifin. “When he goes down, everybody’s got to elevate their game and step up. We did that.
“We stuck with it and played our game and fortunately won the game.”
