Edmonton Oilers’ Leon Draisaitl may miss Game 2 against the Vancouver Canucks due to an injury, after contributing to two goals but appearing uncomfortable in Game 1, with his status to be confirmed by head coach Kris Knoblauch.
Kris Knoblauch, the head honcho for the Edmonton Oilers, dropped a bit of a bombshell. Looks like their ace, Leon Draisaitl, might be sitting out Game 2 against the Canucks this Friday night. The reason? He got banged up during the Western Conference’s second-round opener.
In that nail-biter of a game, which ended in a 5-4 loss, Draisaitl was on fire early on. He helped set up the first two goals for Edmonton. But then, things took a turn. Halfway through the second, he vanished to the locker room. His last shift? Merely 10 seconds.
When he did come back for the final period, something was off. You could see it. He looked all kinds of uncomfortable sitting there. And on the ice? Slower than usual, kinda stiff.
Knoblauch’s keeping things close to the chest. “Leon and Adam are day to day,” he mentioned, talking about Draisaitl and Adam Henrique, another center who missed the opener. “I’ll fill you in tomorrow about their status,” he added, post-practice on Thursday. This little tidbit came courtesy of Derek Van Diest over at NHL.com.
Henrique’s situation? Still a bit of a mystery. And Draisaitl? Didn’t hit the ice for Thursday’s practice.
Now, let’s talk numbers. Draisaitl’s not just any player. With 12 points in the playoffs so far – that’s five goals and seven assists – he’s right behind Connor McDavid. McDavid’s leading with 13. But remember, during the regular season, Draisaitl was a beast. Scored 41 goals and racked up 106 points in 81 games.
So, yeah. The Oilers? They’re feeling the heat with Draisaitl’s status up in the air.
