Oilers’ Draisaitl steps up in McDavid’s absence, continues to haunt Predators

NASHVILLE — The Edmonton Oilers breathed a collective sigh of relief. Connor McDavid’s ankle injury was not as serious as initially feared, and he was spotted skating back in Edmonton on Thursday.

But the Oilers will still miss their captain for at least the next two weeks at a time when their offence is floundering. They entered their matchup against the Nashville Predators on Thursday, scoring a paltry 2.2 goals per game on 6.4 per cent shooting.

Although the Oilers preached that it would take a team effort to replace McDavid, all eyes turned to Leon Draisaitl to take charge, which is exactly what he did in Edmonton’s 5-1 win. Draisaitl now has 56 points in 55 career games without McDavid in the lineup.

“We have different leaders in this group, and we’re all looking to contribute in our own way,” Draisaitl said. “When (McDavid’s) out, it puts a little bit more pressure on me, but I love those situations, and I think I’ve always been good at stepping up in those moments.

“Obviously, we miss him. There’s no doubt. You can’t replace him, but now we’ve got to figure it out as a group together.”

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It was fitting that the Oilers were in Nashville on Halloween, considering Draisaitl has terrorized the Predators for years. Draisaitl has recorded an eye-popping 41 points (25 goals and 16 assists) in his past 16 games against the Predators — an average of 2.56 per game. That includes 17 goals and 25 points in his past nine games at Bridgestone Arena.

The Oilers set the tone from the jump, pinning the Predators in their own end and firing four shots on Juuse Saros in the opening 37 seconds. Viktor Arvidsson, who had 10 shot attempts in the first period, slipped the puck past his ex-teammate for his first goal with the Oilers off a feed from Draisaitl.

Arvidsson, Draisaitl and Vasily Podkolzin were dominant Thursday, generating 71.4 per cent of the expected goals at even strength in 11:17 of ice time, according to Sportlogiq.

“We’re connecting,” Draisaitl said. “We’re creating a lot of looks. I think all three of us would like to finish a little bit better. I think there’s a lot of looks that can be put in (the) net. But I think we’re finding each other. We’re reading off each other.”

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Draisaitl padded the Oilers’ lead in the second period by taking advantage of Michael McCarron’s miscue at the Predators’ blue line. On his second goal, Draisaitl lowered his shoulder and blew past Brady Skjei before beating Saros short side in the third period.

Late in the game, Zach Hyman scored his long-awaited first goal of the season. A 54-goal scorer last year, Hyman was the unluckiest player in the league entering play Thursday with 5.86 goals scored below expected through 10 games.

“We just had an analytics meeting with a company (that) was telling us when a player hits five to six goals expected, they are guaranteed to score right away,” Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said. “Zach was sitting at about five and a half, and sure enough, tonight he gets his goal. It was just a matter of time. It’s not like he forgot how to score.”

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On Thursday, the Oilers improved to 21-26-10 without McDavid since his rookie season. If Draisaitl’s performance against the Predators is any indication, he is primed to take over in McDavid’s absence.

“He did it right from the start,” Knoblauch said. “He knew with Connor not being here that we needed somebody (to step up). Everyone needed to, but probably your biggest one is your best player, and Leon definitely is our best player. Tonight, he didn’t disappoint. Everything he did tonight, whether it was key faceoffs, goals at big times, you could tell he was ready to play.”

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