EDMONTON, Alberta — (AP) — When the Edmonton Oilers needed a spark to open the Stanley Cup Final, Leon Draisaitl scored just more than a minute in.
When they needed the tying goal after falling behind to the defending champion Florida Panthers, Connor McDavid delivered the perfect pass.
And when Game 1 was threatening to drag into a second overtime, McDavid found Draisaitl for the winner.
Draisaitl and McDavid took over Wednesday night when it mattered most, delivering a series-opening 4-3 victory that put them three wins from the championship they’ve been working toward for a decade.
“They don’t take many nights off, that’s for sure,” teammate Brett Kulak said. “They usually are our top guys every single night, and the bigger the stage the better they get.”
Playing through pain, Draisaitl did not score a goal in the final last year, when Edmonton lost the first three games, got back even and dropped a heartbreaker …