EDMONTON — The Edmonton Oilers got a boost in Monday’s opener of their first-round playoff series against the Anaheim Ducks with the return of Leon Draisaitl.
Draisaitl, who missed the final 14 games of the regular season due to a knee injury, had two assists in a 4-3 win over the Ducks.
The German forward was activated from the long-term injured list just before Monday’s game.
Draisaitl assisted on Kasperi Kapanen’s goal in the first period for Edmonton’s 2-0 lead, and again on Kapanen’s game winner with less than two minutes remaining in regulation.
“I felt OK,” Draisaitl said after the game. “It’s certainly going to take a couple of games to really be myself and really trust myself again. But for a start, I thought it was OK.”
Draisaitl has compiled 143 points in 97 career playoff games.
The 30-year-old became the 12th player born outside North America to register 90 career playoff assists — his second of the game was his 91st — and was the fastest in that group to reach that mark ahead of Jari Kurri in 117 games.
Anaheim scored three unanswered goals to lead 3-2 before the hosts drew even on Jason Dickinson’s second goal of the game.
The line of Draisaitl, Kapanen and Vasily Podkolzin was also a key cog in the comeback.
“When you get someone like Leon Draisaitl back in the lineup and you get to play with him, good things usually happen,” Kapanen said.
“Looking at me and Podsy, trying to be physical. We’re decently big guys, I guess, that can skate, get on the forecheck. Leon’s obviously the brains and he can shoot the puck and he can kind of do whatever he wants out there on the ice at times.
“Me and Podsy just try and get him the puck and get available. Those two goals today were a culmination of all those things.”
Draisaitl skated with the team over the past week. Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch predicted the forward would return some time during the first round, but had been coy about when.
“Now that it’s playoffs, it’s a little more sacred about what our lineups are going to be,” Knoblauch said ahead of the game Monday. “We’re not going to announce who’s playing and what our lines are going to be exactly.”
Edmonton went 8-4-2 without Draisaitl to close out the season in second place in the Pacific Division and get home-ice advantage for their series with Anaheim.
Draisaitl compiled 35 goals and 62 assists in 65 games this season. He missed out on a fifth straight 100-point campaign.
The Oilers look to advance to the Stanley Cup final for a third straight year and win it this time. Edmonton lost the final to the Florida Panthers the last two years.
Draisaitl and Oilers captain Connor McDavid, who was held off the scoresheet Monday, co-led last year’s playoffs with 33 points in 22 games apiece.
“Adding a player like Leon definitely makes a big difference,” Knoblauch said. “It affects the other team, just with matchups, because now you’ve got two premier players that you really have to worry about and have to focus on.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 20, 2026.
Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press
