Stumbled at the last step: Ice hockey star Leon Draisaitl and the Edmonton Oilers narrowly missed the winning record in the North American Ice Hockey League (NHL). The Canadians lost 3-1 to the defending champions Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday evening and left the ice as losers after 16 wins in a row.
“It’s Oil over,” was the headline of the NHL on its homepage. The Pittsburgh Penguins still hold the unrivaled record of 17 successes in a row; in the 1992/93 season, the team from Pennsylvania achieved this with superstars Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr.
“The game had a play-off atmosphere”
“It’s been a while since we lost. And sometimes you forget how much you hate defeats,” said Connor McDavid, Draisaitl’s strike partner and goalscorer in Las Vegas: “Now we know it again. This game had a play-off atmosphere, there are always such close duels. You have to grab hold of them, we couldn’t do that.”
Edmonton took the lead early on, and while outnumbered, Draisaitl set up McDavid to make it 1-0. But in the first third, Vegas equalized through Nicolas Roy, and in the final period of the game, Chandler Stephenson and William Karlsson’s goals brought about the decision in favor of the hosts – who had already inflicted a painful defeat on the Oilers nine months ago: in the quarterfinals of the Play- offs, Edmonton failed at the eventual champions.
At the beginning of the current season, the Oilers got off to a bad start, but picked themselves up and started their series shortly before Christmas. The end of the successful run came after an unwelcome break: the All-Star weekend was coming up, they would actually “like to continue playing,” said Draisaitl beforehand – the return to everyday league life now brought defeat at an inopportune time.
Bernd Schwickerath Published/Updated: Recommendations: 5 Bernd Schwickerath Published/Updated: Recommendations: 4 Bernd Schwickerath Published/Updated: Recommendations: 3
The Oilers missed a historic opportunity, but the game in Las Vegas has little impact on the sport. Edmonton remains in third place in the Pacific Division with 59 points and is therefore in a play-off place. The team also played fewer games than its direct competition. “We needed a series to get back in the race, and we managed that,” said McDavid: “Now we’re looking forward.”
