The news today that Leon Draisaitl is out for the remainder of the regular season is not great. At 97 points and sitting fourth in league scoring, his loss won't be an easy one to manage. But the Edmonton Oilers are doing things right so far, right from the moment it happened.
No free shots on your stars
Eastern media and fans were rightly frustrated with the initial lack of response over Radko Gudas' dirty hit on Auston Matthews. While Gudas might be an intimidating fellow, sometimes a thing just needs to be done. That was clearly
Vasily Podkolzin's thought process. He attempted to track down Ozzy Wiesblatt, but when the 5'10" Calgarian ducked the fight and 6'6" Nicolas Hague stepped in, Podkolzin went right at him.
The Oilers also battered Wiesblatt throughout the evening, chipping, crosschecking and bodying him whenever the opportunity presented itself. They managed their revenge in such a way that they weren't consistently putting themselves on the penalty kill, and in fact it was Wiesblatt whose frustration got the better of him in the late second period.
Winning without Draisaitl
Equally, or arguably more important, is the need to continue to find standings points between now and Draisaitl's eventual return. There were 14 games left prior to the win over the San Jose Sharks, and while the Oilers could easily have excused a deflated performance, the team instead showed up strong.
While Connor McDavid contributed a point as he usually does, the rest of the team filled the void of Draisaitl's absence. Adam Henrique had a two point night, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored a very nice goal, and call up Max Jones put the game winning goal behind Sharks netminder Alex Nedeljkovic. It was precisely the sort of performance the team needs to deliver as games become more and more important down the stretch.
It's worth noting that the remaining NHL schedule is very compressed. In a non-Olympic year, it's very possible that Draisaitl could have found his way back prior to season's end. But with a game every second night (or sooner!), the decision seems wise. A healthy Draisaitl in the playoffs is worth the risk the team accepts by not having him in the lineup as they chase down the division title. The win over the Sharks puts them, for the moment, in a tie for first, and a few more similar performances can guarantee a postseason berth as well.