Leon Draisaitl returns to lineup and gets 2 assists to help Oilers beat
Ducks in playoff opener
[April 21, 2026]
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — The Edmonton Oilers got a boost Monday night in
the opener of their first-round playoff series against the Anaheim Ducks
when Leon Draisaitl returned to the lineup.
Draisaitl assisted on both of Kasperi Kapanen's goals in a 4-3 victory,
including the winner with 1:54 left in the third period. |
Anaheim Ducks' Cutter Gauthier (61) battles against Edmonton Oilers'
Leon Draisaitl (29) during the first period of Game 1 in a first-round
NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series in Edmonton, Alberta, Monday,
April 20, 2026. (Codie McLachlan/The Canadian Press via AP) |
|
The 30-year-old German star missed the final 14 games of the
regular season with a knee injury. He was activated from the
long-term injured list before Monday’s game.
“I felt OK,” Draisaitl said. “It’s certainly going to take a
couple of games to really be myself and really trust myself
again. But for a start, I thought it was OK.”
Draisaitl skated with the team over the past week.
Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch predicted the forward would return
some time during the first round, but had been coy about when.
“Now that it’s playoffs, it’s a little more sacred about what
our lineups are going to be,” Knoblauch said Monday morning.
“We’re not going to announce who’s playing and what our lines
are going to be exactly.”
Draisaitl has 143 points in 97 career playoff games. He became
the 12th player born outside North America to compile 90 playoff
assists — his second of the game was his 91st — and Draisaitl
was the fastest in that group to reach the mark. Jari Kurri did
it in 117 games.
“When you get someone like Leon Draisaitl back in the lineup and
you get to play with him, good things usually happen,” Kapanen
said.
Edmonton went 8-4-2 without Draisaitl to close the season and
finished second in the Pacific Division, earning home-ice
advantage for the series against Anaheim.
Draisaitl had 35 goals and 62 assists in 65 games this season,
just missing a fifth straight 100-point campaign.
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