Oilers star Leon Draisaitl’s immediate reaction to 1st Stanley Cup Final trip

The Edmonton Oilers have boasted the best duo in the NHL for the better part of six seasons. Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl will finally get a chance to etch their names on the Stanley Cup after the pair helped lead the Oilers to a Game 6 win over the Dallas Stars to clinch the Western Conference Final on Sunday.

Although McDavid gets most of the headlines, Edmonton likely would not be in this position without Draisaitl’s contributions. After years of heartbreaking playoff exits, the German star is excited to play in the Stanley Cup Final but knows the job isn’t done.

“It means a lot. There were a lot of painful years that we’ve gone through and lots of learning along the way,” Draisaitl said, per Derek Van Diest of NHL.com. “To be able to do it at home and for this city and for these fans and for ourselves as well, it’s great. It’s a great feeling of course. That being said, we have bigger dreams and goals right now.”

It’s no surprise that Draisaitl and McDavid linked up for Edmonton’s opening goal on the power play. Draisaitl found McDavid who weaved his way through multiple Stars players before shoveling a nifty backhand shot into the roof of the net for his fifth goal of the playoffs.

McDavid added an assist on what ended up being the game-winning goal, a Zach Hyman power play score later in the first period. Entering the Stanley Cup Final, McDavid and Draisaitl have 59 combined points in 18 games. They’ve combined to average over 250 points per season across the last three years.

Oilers facing tough task against hungry Panthers

The stage is set for the 2024 Stanley Cup Final and it is a very intriguing matchup, to say the least. The Oilers will be the lower seed against a Florida Panthers team that increased their points total by 18 from a season ago.

The Panthers made an improbable run to the Stanley Cup Final last year as the Eastern Conference’s lowest seed but ran out of gas and lost in five games to the Vegas Golden Knights. This year the Panthers were consistently among the best teams in the NHL and battled with the Boston Bruins for the Atlantic Division crown before topping Tampa Bay, Boston and the New York Rangers to reach the final.

Although led by Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, the Oilers have received significant contributions from Hyman and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Goalie Stuart Skinner seems to have found some confidence between the pipes too after putting together arguably his best performance of the season in Game 6.

Skinner stopped 34 of the 35 shots he faced and earned the first star of the game. After allowing eight goals across the first three games of the Western Conference Final, Skinner posted a .948 save percentage over the next three games.

Both teams should enter the series with confidence and plenty of rest with Game 1 scheduled for Saturday, June 8. Edmonton and Florida met twice in the regular season before the calendar flipped to 2024. The Panthers won both games by a combined score of 10-4.

The Oilers are built to win the Stanley Cup with two franchise cornerstones leading the pack. The Panthers are trying to move past their loss last year and prove they are the best team in the league. It has the recipe to be a fantastic series.

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