Tasked with shutting down Jack Eichel’s line, Leon Draisaitl thought they did a stand-up job and they’re looking to continue that tonight when the Golden Knights have the last change as the home team by preaching the same defensive details that allowed them to succeed in Game 4 against them.
“[Kapanen] was great. Obviously, our line had a big role and a big task, and not an easy one to come into, but I thought he was great. He skates extremely well, is very dynamic and I really enjoy playing with him,” Draisaitl said.
“I’d like to think that I can play any role you give me. A challenge like that excites me,” he added. “I feel like I’ve always, whenever given a challenge like that, responded really well. I know I’m very capable of scoring goals, but on the other side, also defending really well and shutting someone down. So whatever it is I’m needed to do this time of year, I’ll gladly do it.”
The trio of Evander Kane, Adam Henrique, and Connor Brown was highly effective in Game 4, scoring two goals and playing a tenacious game on home ice. They’ll look to keep things rolling tonight to try and eliminate Vegas on the road, where the Oilers already earned victories in Games 1 & 2 of this series.
Trent Frederic, Mattias Janmark and Corey Perry will make up Edmonton’s fourth line, rounding out a balanced forward group for the Oilers that boasts four lines that they can roll against the Golden Knights with confidence in their chance on Wednesday to advance to Round 3 for the third time in four seasons.
“Just playing our game and playing solid,” Knoblauch said. “They are very dangerous off the rush, and you’ve seen that in the series with the amount of goals have been scored off the rush for both teams. So we’re just going to have to ensure we’re not feeding their transition.
“We’ve got to have guys staying above them, and when we’re giving up even-man rushes, then we should be able to defend those. But if they’re odd-man, that makes those things a Little more difficult and they can have some dangerous players who can create some chances. So we just have to eliminate that.”
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
