Leon Draisaitl makes feelings known about pairing up on the Oilers' penalty kill beside Connor McDavid

Edmonton Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch hadn't shied away from accepting in the offseason that his team needed to overhaul its penalty kill. The Oilers boosted their special team with two of their best players, Leon Drasaitl and Connor McDavid, joining them as forwards in defense.

On Saturday, McDavid and Darnell Nurse assisted Leon Draisaitl on a short-handed empty-net goal in the final stages of the game to make it 3-1 for the team. The six-on-four goal came after Connor was able to get possession of a lose puck in their D-zone, and instead of punting it, he kept possession, finding a pass to Nurse, who left it for Draisait,l who finished on a backhand.

"Yeah, I think just capitalizing on your looks," Drasaitl said after the game. (2:15) "Because games like that a lot of times you're not scoring, you're not scoring, you get all the looks in the world, and then you look up at the clock, all of a sudden it's 2-2, and you find a way to lose a game like that, right? So, I thought it was a mature end. Obviously gave up a look there, but a great stick by Davo [McDavid]."

The Oilers suffered in the playoffs last year with their penalty kill after it dropped to a lowly 67.1 percent, ranking 14th out of the 16. They were only ahead of the Ottawa Senators and the Los Angeles Kings, two teams that were out in the first round.

For Draisaitl, he was satisfied with the new avenue through which the two superstars contributed to the Oilers' success.

"I think both of us are individuals who want to be out there as much as possible. Sometimes, maybe too much," Draisaitl continued. "Knobber would agree with that at times, but we just enjoy being out there, and we enjoy that part of the game too. There are different ways to win hockey games and help a team succeed, and if we can help out on the penalty kill, we love doing it."

Kris Knoblauch opens up about soaking up the pressure in penalty kill

Kris Knoblauch complimented his captain for keeping his composure when the Canucks had a six-on-four advantage.

“Good penalty killers are the ones who can make plays under pressure,” Knoblauch said. “You saw it with Connor, being able to slow things down rather than just shoveling a puck out. He's able to settle things down and make a heck of a play.”

Playing on the penalty kill meant that both Draisaitl and McDavid averaged more than 24 minutes of ice time. Knoblauch would be keeping an eye on that, as the season wears on.

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Edited by R. Nikhil Parshy