EDMONTON — Message sent. Message received.
Kris Knoblauch had the guts to do what his predecessors either wouldn’t or felt they couldn’t, and it paid off handsomely.
The Edmonton Oilers coach sat superstar Leon Draisaitl for a couple of shifts in the third period against the Philadelphia Flyers after what the forward himself called an “unnecessary” penalty — his second in as many games.
Draisaitl emerged from his personal timeout to help set up the tying goal before netting the capper in overtime as part of a 4-3 win — the team’s first through four contests to start the season.
Leo called game 😤 #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/bVNHPw2MlY
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) October 16, 2024
“Overall, we played a pretty good game,” Knoblauch said. “There was a lot of self-inflicted adversity. The penalties were not ideal and the amount of time we were penalty killing. It made it hard trying to generate some offence.
“In the long run, it looks good for us that we were able to fight through that and still come out with a victory. Ultimately, we made it harder on ourselves than it had to be.”
The postgame scene with Draisaitl in the dressing room was bizarre.
Scrummed first by the media, he sat in his stall looking and sounding downtrodden despite his skillful exploits in the latter stages of a win. If you didn’t know better, you’d have figured his Oilers lost again.
When asked about Knoblauch making him sit in the middle of the bench for longer than usual, Draisaitl offered a short response.
“You going to have to ask him that,” he said.
Watching from the bench clearly didn’t sit well with one of the best players in the league. However, it clearly got his attention.
Knoblauch hasn’t hesitated to sit star players as a form of discipline. He once benched Connor McDavid — the Connor McDavid — albeit in junior. This is the first time he’s used that tactic as an NHL coach, though, a completely different animal. And it was a heck of a time to do it.
Losers of their first three games, the Oilers trailed 3-2 when Draisaitl cross-checked Flyers forward Garnet Hathaway with eight seconds left in the middle period. They killed off Draisaitl’s infraction and he got a shift after his penalty expired.
But Knoblauch decided to put his foot down. After all, the German forward was called for slashing Calgary Flames forward Martin Pospisil at almost the exact same time in Sunday’s game with the score tied.
Draisaitl was held off the ice for five minutes of five-on-five play, almost unheard of for him.
“As a group, we took some penalties that we didn’t need to take,” Knoblauch said when asked about Draisaitl, specifically. “We’ve just got to, ultimately, stay out of the penalty box and play our game — make it easier on ourselves so we can play on the attack, play five-on-five or even drawing penalties.”
As far as benchings go, this was about as minor as they come. Draisaitl missed one full shift and half of another one before Travis Sanheim was called for hooking Jeff Skinner, his replacement on a line with McDavid and Zach Hyman.
Almost eight minutes into the final period of regulation and down a goal, Knoblauch removed the handcuffs from his second-best player with a power play upcoming. The point was made.
In the past, Oilers coaches have let the stars have free reign — either because they felt those players were the team’s only hope, or because that was unquestionably the case. In fairness to those who came before Knoblauch, the new bench boss has presided over the most talent in the McDavid-Draisaitl era — at least on paper — since he was hired last November. That certainly gives him more leeway to be bold.
That talent was evident Tuesday, or at least more evident than it was last week.
Third-liners Adam Henrique and Connor Brown scored the first two goals for the Oilers. Stuart Skinner had his best game of the early season with 27 saves. The penalty killers, after allowing two goals early, denied five Philadelphia power plays.
“Some of the penalties, like mine, (were) unnecessary,” Draisaitl said. “That’s on us. That’s on me. Our killers, for the most part, did a really good job.”
Draisaitl, McDavid and Evan Bouchard were instrumental in flipping a late deficit to an important victory. McDavid had the primary helpers on both goals. Bouchard had the tying marker. The Oilers could ill afford to head out on their first road trip to Nashville and Dallas with an 0-4 or 0-3-1 record.
Edmonton’s top guns stepped up in the final handful of minutes in regulation through to the 56-second mark of overtime when Draisaitl ended the game following a pass from McDavid.
“Our best players really came up clutch,” Knoblauch said. “We needed those guys to make key plays at key moments, and they definitely did.”
That’s all the Oilers required from them to finally pick up their first win. And they might not get that victory without their coach making a ballsy decision — one that could be a tone-setter for this group.
Draisaitl didn’t look thrilled sitting in his stall afterward, but even he seemed to grasp the bigger picture at play.
“We’re obviously scratching for some points here early on,” Draisaitl said. “Any point we can get is big. It was nice to come back and win the game.”
(Photo of Leon Draisaitl celebrating his overtime goal: Andy Devlin / NHLI via Getty Images)
