Oilers need Leon Draisaitl to step up to keep Stanley Cup Final hopes alive

When the season is on the line, you need your best players to step up.

For the Edmonton Oilers, who again face the prospect of losing the Stanley Cup to the Florida Panthers in Game 5, they need all hands on deck, especially from their big guns. They received some of that jump in their 8-1 thrashing of the Florida Panthers in Game 4. Captain Connor McDavid led the charge with four points, while Dylan Holloway and Stuart Skinner had good games.

Leon Draisaitl had two assists in Saturday’s victory. While his stat line wasn’t bad, it is concerning that those were his first two points of the series. For a guy who was important in helping the Oilers get to the final, showing his clutch scoring gene on multiple occasions, Edmonton needs him to really make a difference on Tuesday night if they want a chance at forcing a sixth game back at Rogers Place.

On Tuesday’s edition of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Frank Seravalli and Tyler Yaremchuk explain why a big game from Draisaitl will be crucial in helping the Oilers extend the series again.

Tyler Yaremchuk: The power play needs to get going, and that ties directly into some star players that need to get going.

Frank Seravalli: You could solve a lot of problems for the Edmonton Oilers with a power-play night. It feels like they’re due. They have to find a way to get on the scoresheet, and at the same time, is it too much to ask for a Leon Draisaitl goal during that stretch? He’s had a really off Stanley Cup Final, he’s been off-kilter. I don’t know what’s going on with him, but he doesn’t look quite right, and this is one of the best playoff performers of this generation. When he’s not right, in some ways, the power play isn’t right.

You can watch the full segment, and the entire episode here…