Draisaitl with three scorer points, Grubauer convinced, Rieder scored when he was outnumbered
Three scorer points for Leon draisaitl, a strong start for Philipp Grubauer with a spectacular end, an important shorthanded goal from Tobias Rieder and a forecheck with effect of Tom Kühnhackl: The top German players immediately left their mark in the NHL on the first restart weekend, even if the result was not always as desired. “It's a shorter series, so we have to minimize our mistakes, we made far too many,” said Draisaitl, referring to his Edmonton Oilers' 4:6 defeat against the Chicago Blackhawks in game one of the best-of-five duel "-Format. The Cologne player added: “But we know our strengths and have to find our way back to the game that makes us strong.”
Offensively, however, things were already going brilliantly for the Art Ross Trophy winner. Draisaitl was directly involved in two goals by his congenial teammate Connor McDavid (3rd, 57th), and he scored the goal to make it 2-4 (25th) when he scored a direct shot from close range. On Tuesday night, the Oilers definitely want to equalize after victories; another defeat in the Stanley Cup qualifying round would be a considerable loss with three necessary successes. “After the game we were obviously frustrated, but that's over, it's a new day. Especially in the play-offs you can't afford to give up six goals. We have to deliver our best performance in the next game,” said Draisaitl.
Grubauer, on the other hand, was able to celebrate a 2-1 win for his Colorado Avalanche against the reigning Stanley Cup champions St. Louis Blues. The Rosenheim native impressed with 31 Paraand was named player of the game, only David Perron (17th) beat Grubauer with a well-placed direct shot. “My teammates did an outstanding job, which made it easy for me. “It felt good, even though it had been a while since the last game,” said the 28-year-old. “Grubauer played excellently and had some strong ones at the right time Parashowed it,” praised Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar.
The team from Denver won in the last second. Avs striker Nazem Kadri (60th) rewarded an impressive period of pressure in the power play with a goal practically at the final siren. The clock only showed 0,1 seconds left when the puck crossed the goal line. “We scored, that’s what counts. It doesn’t matter when or how,” said Grubauer – and added: “We showed a really good team performance.”
With this success, Colorado has improved its starting position for the play-off seedings. Since the Avalanche were one of the best four teams in the NHL main round in the West, they can gain momentum in a group phase against St. Louis, the Dallas Stars and the Vegas Golden Knights for the play-off round of 2018. “You have to get into the best condition as quickly as possible, there is no room for mistakes,” emphasized the German goalie, who already won the most coveted trophy in ice hockey with the Washington Capitals in XNUMX.
The NHL finals in Edmonton (west) and Toronto (east) also got off to a positive start for Tobias Rieder and Tom Kühnhackl. The two Landshuters started the qualifying round with victories on Saturday. Rieder contributed the winning goal (4rd) to his Calgary Flames' 1-33 win against the Winnipeg Jets. When outnumbered, the 27-year-old broke through alone and skillfully overcame Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck with his backhand.
“It was a very good game for us and we hope we can continue like this,” said Rieder. “His speed makes him really dangerous – and he’s an intelligent player,” said Flames head coach Geoff Ward, praising the German striker, whom he has known “for a while.” Ward was part of the as an assistant between 2015 and 2018 DEB-Coaching teams at World Championships and the Olympic qualification in Latvia, as well as Rieder being a member of the national team several times. “He is a good shorthanded player and is willing to do whatever it takes for the team to be successful,” Ward added.
Kühnhackl received head coach Barry Despite's trust in the New York Islanders' 2-1 win against the Florida Panthers, even though he had not taken part in the only test before the restart with a slight injury. “Tommy won two Stanley Cups with a pretty good team in Pittsburgh. He can slip into a variety of roles and is used to this situation,” said Despite, emphasizing: “He has a really good understanding of hockey, which sometimes isn’t really noticeable. He can play with technically strong people and when he has a checking role, he fills that well.”
In the first of a maximum of five duels with the Panthers, Kühnhackl played alongside Canadians Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Derick Brassard. Kühnhackl's decisive pressure on Panthers defender Riley Stillman deep in the opposing third was crucial. The disc promptly reached Brassard, who set up Pageau's goal (12th) with a cross pass. “I’ve played in a few play-off games over the last few seasons so I knew what to expect. Every time I go out, I try to do my job as best as I can and help the team in every way,” said Kühnhackl.
In the second third, Anthony Beauvillier (24th) increased the number, which was enough to give the series a 1-0 lead before game two on Tuesday, also because Semyon Varlamov only allowed Jonathan Huberdeau (41st) to score in the Islanders' goal. Varlamov initially had the preference of Trot over the Füssener Thomas Greiss receive. Also Korbinian Holzer (Nashville Predators) and Nico Storm (Minnesota Wild) have to be patient as they did not play in their teams' first game in the Stanley Cup Qualifiers. Nashville lost to the Arizona Coyotes 3-4, Minnesota won 3-0 against the Vancouver Canucks.
(Photo: Martin Baumann) – Philipp Grubauer at the 2019 World Cup in the game against France