“The Leon King”
Draisaitl shoots Oilers for the first victory of the final series
05.06.2025 – 2:58 p.m.Reading time: 2 min.
Leon Draisaitl is in top form and underlined this in the first game against the Florida Panthers. He was then celebrated for this.
The Edmonton Oilers won the first final game for the Stanley Cup – especially thanks to Leon Draisaitl. The German international scored two goals in the 4: 3 after extra time against the Florida Panthers, including the decisive goal in the 80th minute.
After almost two minutes, the Cologne team put the Oilers in the lead. Defending champion Florida turned the game by hits from Sam Bennett (11th, 23rd) and Brad Marchand (13th), but Edmonton was unimpressed. Victor Arvidsson (24th) and Mattias Ekholm (47th) equalized – it went into overtime.
In the extension, Edmonton used a power play after Floridas Tomas Nosek had to go to the penalty bench because of the game delay. Draisaitl completed ice cold at the presentation of Connor McDavid and Corey Perry. The 28-year-old emphasized that his teammates had put him in the position “with great passports”.
Draisaitl said to the broadcaster Sportsnet: “It was a great start for us, but we have to sort ourselves up now and prepare for the second game.” The NHL commented on the appearance of the German on its homepage with the word game “The Leon King” based on the film “The Lion King” (in German: “King of the Lion”).
In the past year, Edmonton lost the final series against Florida after seven games. This time the Oilers want to win their first title since 1990. The best-of-Seven series now lead you 1-0. Four victories are necessary to win the Stanley Cup.
The second game takes place again in Edmonton – in the night of Saturday at 2:00 a.m. CEST (live at Sky). It is still unclear whether the German striker Nico Sturm can be there for Florida. After the game, Draisaitl emphasized: “This has been characterized by the whole year, especially now in the play-offs. We never give up and always stay tuned.”