Draisaitl’s 4 goals not enough as Oilers fall to Golden Knights in Game 1

Leon Draisaitl’s four-goal game wasn’t enough for the Edmonton Oilers in a 6-4 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights to open their second-round playoff Wednesday.

Ivan Barbashev scored twice and Mark Stone had a goal and an assist for host Vegas.

Chandler Stephenson and Michael Amadio also scored for the Knights with Jack Eichel adding an empty net goal. Knights defenseman Zach Whitecloud had two assists.

WATCH | The Golden Knights score twice in 50 seconds at the start of the 3rd period:

Vegas starter Laurent Brossoit stopped 23 shots for the win, while Edmonton counterpart Stuart Skinner stopped 28 shots in the loss.

Skinner was among three Calder Trophy nominees announced earlier Wednesday for the NHL Rookie Award.

Draisaitl’s 11 goals lead the NHL playoffs. Connor McDavid, Mattias Ekholm and Zach Hyman each had two assists for Edmonton.

Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is Saturday in Las Vegas before the series returns to Edmonton for Games 3 and 4.

The Oilers beat the Los Angeles Kings in six games in the first round. The Knights had a slightly longer break after eliminating the Winnipeg Jets in five games to qualify.

The hosts led 3-2 and led 26-15 in shots after 40 minutes. After the fireworks of five goals in the first period, neither team scored in the second.

Draisaitl completed a hat trick with a power play goal at 1:35 of the third while Vegas defenseman Alex Pietrangelo served a hard minor that continued from late in the second period.

But the Knights responded with a pair of goals in less than a minute to lead 5-3. Barbashev landed his second Whitecloud point shot from Skinner at 2:36.

The Edmonton goalie didn’t catch all of Stephenson’s shots from the hash marks and the puck sank into the net at 3:26.

Draisaitl scored his fourth at 8:33 into the race. As Skinner headed to the bench for an extra forward, the Oilers were called for too many men with 63 seconds left in the game.

The Knights responded with three straight goals before Draisaitl brought his team within one goal with 11 seconds left in the period.

Draisaitl, on the net side, threw the puck over Brossoit’s shoulder. The Vegas goaltender arched his back too late and the puck rolled over his back and into the net.

Stone redirected Reilly Smith’s shot upstairs at Skinner with the heel of his blade for a power play goal at 18:23.

Amadio scored from the top of the faceoff circle on a cross pass from William Karlsson at 9:54.

Barbashev found the loose puck in front of the crease to shoot Vegas even just 40 seconds after Edmonton’s first goal.

Draisaitl falling to his knees on a single pass from McDavid is a signature play with a men’s advantage. They ran it for an early Oilers lead.

Edmonton’s power play converted two of three chances. Vegas was two against four, including Eichel’s empty net

Draisaitl has at least one point in the seven postseason games he has played (11 goals, four assists).