The Edmonton Oilers could be getting Leon Draisaitl back at just the right time.
Draisaitl practiced for a second straight day on Sunday heading into Game 1 of the Western Conference first-round series against the visiting Anaheim Ducks on Monday night.
Draisaitl sustained a lower-body injury against the Nashville Predators on March 15 and missed the last 14 games of the regular season.
Draisaitl was well on his way to securing his fifth straight 100-point season before finishing with 97 points (35 goals, 62 assists) in 65 games.
Draisaitl centered a line with Vasily Podkolzin and Kasperi Kapanen on Sunday, and was also on the first power-play unit.
“We’ll see how it feels (on Monday), and then, yeah, we’ll make a call from there,” Draisaitl said. “There’s lots of things that go into it. Again, it’s going to take a little bit of time, but I’m going to find my ways to contribute and try to get to my best as quick as I can.”
The Oilers took two out of three against the Ducks in the regular season.
They combined for 11 goals in each of the first two meetings before the Oilers won 4-2 on March 28 in Edmonton. The victory came in the middle of a five-game winning streak that helped the Oilers leapfrog the Ducks for second place in the Pacific Division and earn them home-ice advantage for the series.
“The push we had the last month or so, we’ve played a lot better,” Edmonton defenseman Mattias Ekholm said. “We had some big guys go down, and guys come in and fill those spots. The guys in here feel as good as they have all year, going into the playoffs, which absolutely can help our group.”
The Oilers are aware the Ducks have solid goaltending and high-end skill up front that prefers to to play at a fast pace.
“That’s not how we want to play,” Edmonton center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said. “We want to play tight defensively, and make things really difficult for them and wait for our chances.”
While the Ducks haven’t been to the playoffs in eight years, they do have several veterans with playoff experience.
Alex Killorn won back-to-back Stanley Cup titles with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2020-21, John Carlson lifted the Cup with the Washington Capitals in 2018, Chris Kreider played in the Stanley Cup Finals with the New York Rangers in 2014, Mikael Granlund advanced to the Western Conference finals with the Dallas Stars last season, and Jacob Trouba has appeared in 73 playoff games during his career.
And then there’s coach Joel Quenneville, who guided the Chicago Blackhawks to three Stanley Cup titles from 2010-15.
“He calms you a little bit knowing he’s been there, and you can just see it on his face,” Ducks forward Troy Terry said. “He’s won a lot of hockey games, a lot of playoff hockey games. He’s won Cups, and just to see his excitement (at practice on Saturday). Like, you can tell. It’s like Christmas to him, just being able to game plan for one team and just the whole playoff format and the atmosphere. And just seeing him excited, it just shows you how this is what you really play hockey for.”
Quenneville said he gets the most excited for the first game of the season and the first playoff game.
“The best part of winning the Cup is trying to win the Cup, so that starts when they drop the puck on the first game,” Quenneville said.
