The Edmonton Oilers are struggling to achieve their Stanley Cup dream. After the turbulent opening defeat against the Colorado Avalanche, the second duel of the series was a tough one. The Oliers despair of the opponent’s outstanding goalie.
Ice hockey superstar Leon Draisaitl suffered the next setback with the Edmonton Oilers in the second NHL semifinal game. After the wild 6-8 at the start of the Western Conference Finals, the Oilers lost again 4-0 at the Colorado Avalanche and had to accept another setback in the fight for the Stanley Cup. Edmonton is trailing 2-0 in the best-of-seven series.
The Oilers conceded three quick goals in the second period – within 124 seconds – and were then almost hopelessly behind – the outstanding Nazem Kadri was involved in all three goals. In the final period, Nathan MacKinnon scored the fourth goal. On the offensive, Draisaitl and Co. bit their teeth off Avalanche keeper Pavel Francouz. German striker Nico Sturm was again missing from Colorado’s squad.
For Draisaitl, his personal winning streak also ended in the seventh game. As the first NHL player in history, the native of Cologne had previously made multiple assists in six play-off games in a row. He surpassed in this statistic, among other things, Oilers icon Wayne Gretzky. Overall, Draisaitl has scored seven goals and provided 21 assists so far in the playoffs, only his congenial attacking partner Connor McDavid has been even more successful in the league with eight goals and 21 assists
On the night of Sunday, the Canadians will be playing at Rogers Place for the first time in the series, relying on their home strengths. “We’ve been a really solid home team lately,” said McDavid. “We love playing in front of these fans and we’re going to take that streak back at home.” Game four will also take place in Edmonton. A team needs four wins to advance to the Stanley Cup finals. The Western Conference winner then plays either the defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning or the New York Rangers in the finals series. In the Eastern Conference finals series, New York won the first game.
