Full-strength Leon Draisaitl steps up for Edmonton Oilers in Game 1 of Cup final

Joshua Clipperton · The Canadian Press

· Posted: Jun 05, 2025 9:28 AM EDT | Last Updated: 24 minutes ago

Leon Draisaitl gave each helium had successful past season's Stanley Cup final.

The Edmonton Oilers centre — manus and ribs injuries hampering his superstar quality — gutted it retired with 10 goals and 11 assists crossed the full of the playoffs for a squad that fell conscionable abbreviated astatine the past hurdle.

Just implicit 11½ months later, Draisaitl is healthy. And with Connor McDavid by his side, the large German stepped up for the Oilers successful the opener of a rubric bid rematch against the defending champ.

Draisaitl scored connected a powerfulness play astatine 19:29 of overtime Wednesday arsenic the Oilers came backmost from a 3-1 shortage successful the 2nd play to bushed the Florida Panthers 4-3 and instrumentality a 1-0 pb successful what looks similar different mouth-watering matchup for hockey's beatified grail.

'He's invaluable'

"It's pugnacious to describe," Draisaitl, who has present recovered the backmost of the nett 9 times this spring, said of his winner. "Some unthinkable plays that made it beauteous 'easy' for maine to enactment that home. It's a peculiar feeling."

McDavid took a walk from Corey Perry earlier uncovering Edmonton's No. 29 for him to hide his 2nd extremity of the nighttime — and 3rd OT breakthrough of the post-season to necktie a league grounds — wrong an incandescent Rogers Place connected Sergei Bobrovsky aft Tomas Nosek was whistled for hold of game.

"You can't enactment a fig connected it," McDavid said erstwhile asked to quantify what Draisaitl brings. "He's invaluable. Clutch, face-offs you sanction it, helium does it. He doesn't get capable respect oregon recognition for his antiaircraft capabilities. There's possibly cipher better."

WATCH | Oilers bushed Panthers 4-3 successful OT successful Game 1 of Stanley Cup rematch:  

Draisaitl, whose parents were sitting successful the stands down Bobrovsky's nett successful OT, reflected connected being astatine afloat spot compared to the sick bay the radical had going successful 2024.

"Some of our guys got beauteous banged up aboriginal past year," helium said. "Sometimes the fatigue conscionable seems to acceptable successful a small spot quicker. It's bully to bully to consciousness bully and healthy.

"Hopefully it stays that way."

Oilers caput manager Kris Knoblauch said the information his squad defeated some the Vegas Golden Knights and Dallas Stars successful 5 games this outpouring aft opening with a 4-2 bid triumph implicit the Los Angeles Kings has helped his roster's wide wellness — different than winger Zach Hyman, who's retired with a dislocated wrist.

"Certainly helium was banged up and not 100 per cent I deliberation a batch of our squad was," Knoblauch said of Draisaitl past post-season.

"This year, we had 2 agelong breaks aft series gave america a batch of clip to recover, and conscionable helped everybody and the wounded aspect. We're beauteous fortunate close now."

The Oilers fell down the Panthers 3-0 successful past year's last earlier winning 3 consecutive to unit a winner-take-all showdown that Florida took connected location ice.

Edmonton drew archetypal humor Wednesday connected a nighttime wherever its stars led the mode successful cardinal moments.

With the Oilers down 3-2 successful the 2nd period, McDavid recovered Mattias Ekholm successful beforehand for him to people his archetypal of the playoffs aft the Panthers choked disconnected the mediate of the ice.

WATCH | Edmonton fans wishing for a win:  

McDavid and Draisaitl past combined, arsenic they person truthful galore times, to propulsion Edmonton implicit the top.

"I don't truly person words for you guys," Oilers winger Kasperi Kapanen, who joined the nine disconnected the waiver ligament and provided 2 assists Wednesday, said of that dynamic duo. "These guys are generational talents, and past aboriginal Hall of Famers."

"I've seen them bash it galore times," Skinner added. "Hopefully I'm capable to spot them bash it a batch more."

Draisaitl, of course, knows the occupation is acold from done aft Edmonton topped a Florida squad that entered 31-0 erstwhile starring aft the archetypal oregon 2nd play successful the playoffs since the team's archetypal Cup last tally successful 2023.

"It's large for close now," Draisaitl said. "But we've got to look up and get acceptable for Game 2."

That goes Friday backmost astatine Rogers Place.