National ice hockey player Leon Draisaitl suffered a 4-3 defeat in the NHL with the Edmonton Oilers in the Canadian duel against the Calgary Flames. Philipp Grubauer also lost with his team.
The 26-year-old Draisaitl had two assists in the so-called “Battle of Alberta,” but that wasn’t enough for Edmonton. “We made small mistakes that are easy to fix,” said Draisaitl after the game. At the start of the North American professional league season, the Oilers had managed a 5-3 win over the Vancouver Canucks. Tim Stützle (20) also lost with the Ottawa Senators 2:3 against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Bankruptcy for Grubauer too
Philipp Grubauer (30) suffered a 6-2 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights in goal for the Seattle Kraken – it was the second loss in the second game for the Kraken. The ambitions are high, but reality could catch up with the ice hockey team in the second year after its foundation.
“We’re planning to get into the playoffs. But if we don’t make it, then the national team has priority for me,” said the 30-year-old Grubauer. “The focus is on the playoffs, but maybe the World Cup is also in the back of our minds. But we’ll talk about that again in March or April,” said the man from Rosenheim.
Grubauer is the best German ice hockey goalkeeper and was back on the ice for the first time after a three-year break for the German Ice Hockey Federation at the World Cup last summer. In the NHL, the playoffs overlap with the world championships. Only players whose teams do not qualify or are eliminated early have a chance of playing for their national teams.