LAS VEGAS — Is Leon Draisaitl the primary ever 50-goal, 100-point checking centre?

It could deviate considerably in Recreation 5 tonight, with the Edmonton Oilers not having final change right here in Vegas, however an enormous a part of Edmonton’s win in Recreation 4 was the deployment of Leon Draisaitl’s line — with wingers Vasily Podkolzin and Kasperi Kapanen — towards Vegas’s high line of Jack Eichel between Ivan Barbashev and Mark Stone.

The Draisaitl unit held Eichel’s line to 4 photographs on objective and nil factors, and the rest of Edmonton’s roster outscored Vegas 3-0.

“I’d prefer to assume that I can play any function you give me. A problem like that excites me,” Draisaitl stated after Wednesday’s morning skate. “I am very able to scoring objectives, and on the opposite aspect, defending rather well and shutting somebody down. So no matter it’s I am wanted to do at the moment of 12 months, I am going to gladly do it.”

No NHL participant has extra playoff objectives than Draisaitl’s 35 over the previous 4 springs, whereas solely Connor McDavid (112 factors) has extra factors than Draisaitl’s 96.

There is no such thing as a mistaking what the true objective right here is nonetheless, and that’s the rationale that Draisaitl will tackle an project like this with no quarrels.

“As a result of I need to win,” he stated. “And I do know typically that is what it takes to win.

“I can put my very own stats on the again burner for a few months, if that signifies that we will be the final workforce standing. Clearly, we’ve obtained a protracted methods to go, however no matter it takes, I am going to gladly try this.”

An Oilers workforce that already has acquired extra depth scoring this spring than in 4 rounds a 12 months in the past could have discovered one thing right here. A high-end shutdown line that, on dwelling ice at the least, frees the McDavid line to play towards the opponent’s second or third unit.

“We’ve obtained a superb mixture of all the pieces,” Kapanen stated of his new line. “Definitely, Leon is likely one of the higher gamers offensively and defensively. And for me and Pods, we’re making an attempt to make use of our pace and physicality to get pucks again to him. It’s a superb mixture of loads of issues.”

The primary “clinch recreation” of this sequence presents a situation the Oilers have loads of expertise in, on this, their eleventh playoff sequence over the previous 4 springs. Edmonton has received seven of their final eight potential series-clinching video games since 2022, their solely loss coming in Recreation 7 of the Stanley Cup Remaining final spring in Dawn, Florida.

Listed below are a number of extra nuggets to take you into Recreation 5, as Edmonton seems to achieve the Convention Finals in back-to-back years for the primary time since doing so in three straight years from 1990-1992.

• Corey Perry leads the best way for the Oilers in video games performed (38) factors (22) and objectives (10) in potential series-clinching video games. He turns 40 on Friday.

• Beginning goalie Stuart Skinner is 4-1 with a 2.41 GAA & .912 save share in 5 profession potential series-clinching video games. Vegas starter Adin Hill is 1-1 with a 1.02 GAA, .957 save share & one shutout in two profession video games when going through elimination.

• Vegas is 3-5 all-time when going through elimination, whereas Reilly Smith and present Oiler Mattias Janmark lead the Golden Knights in objectives in these video games, with three apiece.

• No workforce has received extra playoff video games at dwelling because the Golden Knights entered the NHL in 2017-18 than Vegas, with 34. They’re 0-2 at T-Cell Area on this sequence thus far.

Edmonton’s strains are anticipated to be the identical as they had been in Recreation 4 tonight:

Nugent-Hopkins McDavid Hyman
Podkolzin Draisaitl Kapanen
Kane Henrique Brown
Frederic Janmark Perry

Kulak Bouchard
Nurse Stecher
Walman Klingberg

At Vegas’ morning skate, nonetheless, there have been some unknowns, as accidents mount with the Golden Knights.

Mark Stone, Brandon Saad, Alex Pietrangelo & Brayden McNabb all didn’t participate within the morning skate, which is significant contemplating neither workforce held a apply on the journey day Tuesday. Usually, gamers who miss a skate beneath these circumstances accomplish that due to harm, quite than making the selection to relaxation.

Reporters on the Vegas skate — which takes place a half-hour away from T-Cell Area on the Golden Knights’ apply facility in Summerlin — got here away with the educated guess that Pietrangelo and McNabb will each play tonight, whereas former Calgary Flames right-winger Cole Schwindt might be changing a ahead, fairly seemingly Stone.

Saad (decrease physique) isn’t anticipated to rejoin this sequence.

Barbashev-Eichel-Schwindt
Olofsson-Hertl-Dorofeyev
Howden-Karlsson-Smith
Pearson-Roy-Kolesar

McNabb-Theodore
Hanifin-Pietrangelo
Hague-Whitecloud

Whereas Jets followers lament the truth that Winnipeg has one participant (Kyle Connor) among the many top-25 scorers in these playoffs, and Maple Leafs followers beg for some extra objectives from quiet stars Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews (two apiece), the one factor you’ll by no means hear out of Northern Alberta is complaints concerning the playoff manufacturing of Draisaitl and McDavid.

McDavid takes an eight-game help streak into play tonight, second solely in franchise historical past to Draisaitl’s nine-game skein in ’22 and Glenn Anderson’s in ’85.

It’s playoff recreation No. 85 for each McDavid (134 playoff factors) and Draisaitl (123) tonight, and their respective points-per-game totals of 1.60 and 1.46 rank them third and fifth in NHL historical past amongst gamers with at the least 15 playoff video games. Wayne Gretzky leads at 1.84, adopted by Mario Lemieux with 1.61 factors per playoff recreation.

McDavid (1-5-6) and Draisaitl (2-3-5) lead all gamers (each groups) on this sequence in manufacturing, as they did in Spherical 1, although Adrian Kempe’s 10 factors tied Draisaitl and got here inside a degree of McDavid.