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Leon Draisaitl Points to Difference In This Year's Oilers Team After Overtime Winner

Edmonton will not face a 3-0 mountain this year.

Kyle Koster

Leon Draisaitl scored the game-winner for Edmonton.
Leon Draisaitl scored the game-winner for Edmonton. / TNT
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The Edmonton Oilers almost pulled off a stunning comeback from a 3-0 deficit against the Florida Panthers last year before eventually falling in Game 7. Entering the third period in Game 1 of this year's rematch, it looked like they might be forced to overcome another Panthers' advantage. But Mattias Ekholm's first playoff goal leveled things up at 3-3 and forced overtime—where Leon Draisaitl found the game-winner and treated the hometown fans to a 1-0 series lead.

Asked what the difference is between this year's opener and what transpired against Florida last season, the prolific scorer pointed to an area of growth.

"I think just a little bit more mature," Draisaitl said. "Obviously, every game writes its own story but I thought we hung in there, we're mature and obviously we just needed one look and capitalized on that."

His comments came seconds before an Oilers supporter videobombed him from behind the glass with a Pink Pony Leon—a nod to the Chappel Roan anthem adopted by the club to celebrate victories. Who says you can't have fun and be mature at the same time?

Incidentally, the song choice inspired a great moment of television on TNT as Paul Bissonnette attempted to explain to Wayne Gretzky about all the rises and falls of the popular Midwest princess.

Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final is back in Edmonton on Saturday night at 8 p.m. ET. The Oilers are up but the Panthers' jaws aren't exactly on the floor as they've proven the ability to come-from-behind this postseason.

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Kyle Koster
KYLE KOSTER

Kyle Koster is an assistant managing editor at Sports Illustrated covering the intersection of sports and media. He was formerly the editor in chief of The Big Lead, where he worked from 2011 to '24. Koster also did turns at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he created the Sports Pros(e) blog, and at Woven Digital.

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