Leon Draisaitl fills the void left by injured Oilers captain Connor McDavid

CALGARY – The Edmonton Oilers continue to dig themselves out of their early-season hole, with Leon Draisaitl wielding a wide shovel in the absence of captain and NHL star Connor McDavid.

Draisaitl’s second three-point night since McDavid was sidelined with an ankle injury lifted the Oilers to a 4-2 win over the Calgary Flames on Sunday in Edmonton’s only visit to the Saddledome this season.

Draisaitl scored twice and had an assist in Edmonton’s 5-1 win in Nashville, the day after McDavid was ruled out for two to three weeks.

Draisaitl spurred the Oilers out of the gate on Sunday by scoring with a deft backhand to Flames goaltender Dan Vladar 20 seconds after the opening faceoff.

The German forward assisted on Zach Hyman’s winning power-play goal and Mattias Janmark’s empty-netter in the third period.

“He’s really driving the bus for our team at the moment and in all areas of the game,” said Hyman, who scored his second goal in as many games after a total of 54 last season.

After the Oilers’ 0-3 start, last season’s Stanley Cup finalist began to rebound but lost McDavid, the Conn Smythe Trophy winner as playoff MVP, to an ankle injury in Edmonton’s 10th game of the season .

But Draisaitl, who signed an eight-year, $112 million contract extension with the Oilers, was already warming up before McDavid’s injury.

Draisaitl has five goals and three assists in four straight games for Edmonton (6-5-1), which has won four of its last five.

The 29-year-old’s quick goal Sunday was the fourth-fastest goal by an Oiler in a “Battle of Alberta” against the Flames behind Petr Klima in 1991 (0:09), Craig MacTavish in 1989 (0:12) and Marty McSorley in 1986 (0:14).

Draisaitl also assisted on Viktor Arvidsson’s goal just 37 seconds into the win over the Predators.

“Awesome,” Oilers defenseman Mattias Eckholm said. “Sometimes I think he gets overlooked when Connor is doing his thing.

“There are nights where maybe he should get bigger highlights and bigger spotlights than he actually does when Connor is there and he’s doing his thing.”

Draisaitl has averaged a point per game in 56 career games without McDavid since the latter was drafted first overall by the Oilers in 2015, according to NHL statisticians.

“He’s the best player in the world, but they also probably have the second-best player in the world and he just takes his game to the next level when his partner isn’t there,” Flames head coach Ryan Huska said after the skate from Sunday morning.

After dropping the first episode of the Battle of Alberta 4-1 at home on October 13, Edmonton led 2-0 at 8:12 of the opening period after Jeff Skinner’s goal.

Calgary (6-5-1) pushed back before an announced sellout of 19,289 at the Saddledome with Anthony Mantha’s goal in the second period and Yegor Sharangovich’s in the third, tying the Flames.

Edmonton’s power play, which has been slow to get going this season, scored on the second of three power play chances in the third period before the go-ahead goal.

Calgary’s too many men penalty with just over two minutes to play hampered the Flames’ chances of sending the game to overtime.

Oilers’ goaltender Stuart Skinner stopped 29 shots in the win and Vladar 27 in the loss.

The Oilers lost Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final to the Florida Panthers on June 24. McDavid was the first skater on a losing team to earn the Conn Smythe since 1976.

The Oilers want their captain back in the lineup as soon as possible to get them deep into the postseason again, but Draisaitl has more than filled the void.

“He’s skating so well now and he’s flying, he’s hitting, he’s making good plays,” Stuart Skinner said. “He also distracts us off the ice. It was just beautiful to watch.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 3, 2024.

Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press