Physically battered and visibly exhausted at the end, ice hockey national player Leon Draisaitl missed out on the first NHL title of his career with the Edmonton Oilers. In the decisive seventh game of the series, the Canadians lost 1:2 to the Florida Panthers in their arena north of Miami on Monday evening.
While the Panthers celebrated the first championship in their history with their own fans, the Oilers slipped into a painful summer break after missing a chapter in hockey history.
It remains to be seen whether Draisaitl will be involved again next season in the attempt to win the Oilers’ sixth title. The 28-year-old Cologne native’s contract expires after the next season.
If Edmonton does not want to risk losing one of the league’s best professionals for nothing, both parties must agree to continue their collaboration in the coming months. It could also be that the striker could play in a different jersey for the first time in his NHL career.
Before these discussions, however, there will probably be a few days of mourning. With a fourth win, the Oilers would have made sports history and become only the second team in NHL history to win the series after three defeats at the start of the Stanley Cup Finals.
The only time the Toronto Maple Leafs managed to do this was 82 years ago. The dry spell for Canadian teams would also have been over; the last time the NHL champions came from outside the USA was 31 years ago.
The guests quickly countered Carter Verhaeghe’s 0:1 goal in the 5th minute, with Mattias Janmark equalizing in the 7th minute. In the second period, the Oilers had the puck more often and for longer, but were unable to generate any clear chances due to their superiority. A counterattack finally resulted in a seemingly saveable shot from Sam Reinhart, which rocked the arena in Florida (36th minute).
Draisaitl, visibly physically injured, did not have a single shot on goal in his statistics after two periods. Even when he was finally sent onto the ice together with superstar Connor McDavid, the Oilers were unable to achieve their goal.
Draisaitl will have to wait a little longer for the crowning glory of his NHL career. Only four German professionals have managed to have their name engraved on the Stanley Cup: Uwe Krupp (1996 and 2002), Dennis Seidenberg (2011), Tom Kühnhackl (2016 and 2017) and Nico Sturm (2022). Draisaitl has the personal awards as most valuable player of a season and top scorer. But the longed-for title has so far eluded him.
