Leon Draisaitl was named first star of the game on Tuesday (Oct. 15) after the Edmonton Oilers defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 in overtime at Rogers Place. Edmonton’s superstar forward scored the winning goal and picked up an assist as the Oilers won for the first time this season.
But when he sat at his locker stall surrounded by microphones following the game, Draisaitl certainly didn’t look like someone who lifted his team to a hugely needed victory. He looked more like someone who was in the coach’s doghouse.
Before he got the chance to play the role of overtime hero, taking a feed from Connor McDavid and wiring the puck past Flyers netminder Samuel Ersson 56 seconds into sudden death, Draisaitl had to play the role of spectator.
Draisaitl Misses Shifts After Penalty
Draisatil was penalized for cross-checking Philadelphia’s Garnet Hathaway at 19:52 of period two and spent the start of the third period in the sin bin. It was a needless act by Draisaitl, who went out of his way to hit Hathaway away from the play. When he returned to the Oilers bench, he remained there for a pair of shifts while his linemates were sent over the boards.
One question from the media to Draisaitl intimated that he might have been temporarily benched by coach Kris Knoblauch. “You’re gonna have to ask him that,” Draisaitl said flatly.
Knoblauch’s response to a query about Draisaitl was to discuss his team’s lack of discipline overall. Philadelphia had seven power-play opportunities and scored twice with the man advantage against the Oilers.
“I think tonight as a group we took some penalties that we didn’t need to take,” said Knoblauch, whose team has a league-worst penalty kill rate of 56.3% (9/16) so far this season.
“If we’re going to have success, obviously we’re going to need to stay out of the penalty box,” continued Knoblauch. “Our penalty kill is going to come up clutch and kill penalties at a better rate than they are right now, we know that’s going to happen, but we’ve just got to ultimately stay out of the penalty box and play our game, make it easier on ourselves so we can play on the attack, play at five-on-five or even be drawing penalties.”
Draisaitl Takes Responsibility for Penalty
Draisaitl has now been assessed a two-minute minor in each of Edmonton’s first four games, and Tuesday’s game was the second in a row that he’s taken what can fairly be called a bad penalty. For his part, the German centre acknowledged as much, calling the crosscheck on Hathaway “an unnecessary penalty on my behalf.”
"We're scratching for some points here early on. Any point we can get is big & it was nice to come back & win the game."
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) October 16, 2024
Leon Draisaitl talked with the media following tonight's #Oilers overtime victory over the Flyers. @Enterprise | #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/WjKz1D04zq
One could choose to see Tuesday’s events negatively, as a sign of a potential rift between coach and superstar. But this also can be looked upon in a positive light.
By keeping his $112 million man on the bench, Knoblauch is sending a message to the rest of the Oilers: no one is above being held to account, and if someone of Draisaitl’s ilk can be made to face the music, then the rest of the lineup sure isn’t going to get away with anything.
That culture of accountability is a constant among Stanley Cup champs, which Edmonton aspires to be. And not to suggest that it had been lacking from the Oilers in the past, but with several new additions to the team this season, it’s important for such ethos to be established, especially in the wake of a terrible start that saw the Oilers lose their first three games while being outscored 15-3.
Knoblauch Shows Coach Characteristics
Sitting Draisaitl for a couple shifts also speaks volumes about Knoblauch, who is still not yet a full calendar year into his career as an NHL head coach. Edmonton’s bench boss has clearly become confident and comfortable in his role that he can make tough decisions and stand up to superstars when the moment calls for it, even if that means he might ruffle a few feathers.
Was Draisaitl benched? Almost certainly. Was he upset about it? Certainly. Will he get over it? Most certainly. The drama that went down Tuesday really isn’t all that dramatic, but just part of the process of building a championship team. And the results – a Draisaitl goal and an Oilers win – speak for themselves.
