The German international's Edmonton Oilers were eliminated in the first round of the NHL play-offs. In Game 6 of the best-of-seven series, the Canadian franchise, which also features Joshua Samanski, lost 2–5 to the Anaheim Ducks, leaving Anaheim with an insurmountable 4–2 series lead.
Getty Images SportSamanski provided an assist for Connor Murphy's 16th-minute goal, cutting the deficit to 1–2 for Edmonton. Draisaitl then set up Wassili Podkolsin's 42nd-minute strike to make it 2–4. The Oilers had last fallen to the Ducks in the 2017 second round (3–4). That remains Anaheim's most recent playoff win; next, they will meet either the Utah Mammoth, featuring national team player John-Jason Peterka, or the Vegas Golden Knights (series score 2-3).
"It always hurts, it's painful, but Anaheim simply deserved it. At the end of the day, they were just better than us," said Draisaitl. "We never really found what it takes to go all the way. It wasn't good enough. As much as it hurts—they were simply better."
Oilers captain Connor McDavid agreed: "We've been chasing consistency all season and still haven't found it in the playoffs," he said. "It's tough. We were an average team all season. An average team with high expectations – you're bound to be disappointed."
The Edmonton Oilers have reached the final twice in recent years.
The Edmonton Examiner called the Oilers' exit at the hands of a lower-ranked side "inconceivable". The same old problems that dogged them all season proved fatal: "Their inconsistency. Their lack of commitment and intensity. Their team defence. Their goalkeeping. Their penalty-killing."
In each of the past two seasons, the club reached the Stanley Cup Final only to lose both times to the Florida Panthers. The franchise's last title came in 1990, and fans have been waiting for a sixth championship ever since.
For Draisaitl, this early exit is another bitter disappointment after the Olympics. In Milan, he and Germany's supposedly strongest ever squad were beaten 2-6 by Slovakia in the quarter-finals.
NHL Playoffs: Sturm propels Minnesota to the next round.
Thanks in part to forward Nico Sturm, the Minnesota Wild have reached the quarter-finals for the first time since 2015. The 30-year-old German provided an assist in the 5–2 Game 6 win over the Dallas Stars that closed out the first-round series. In the next round, Minnesota will face the top-seeded Colorado Avalanche, who swept the Los Angeles Kings 4–0.
Sturm had a hand in Quinn Hughes' crucial seventh-minute opener. After Dallas briefly led 2-1, goals from Vladimir Tarasenko (38'), Hughes (51') and Matthew Boldy (59', 60'—both into an empty net) secured Minnesota's passage to the next stage.
It was Minnesota's first playoff-series win since 2012, when they last faced the St. Louis Blues. Dallas, Western Conference finalists for the past three years, had entered the series as favourites.
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