Connor McDavid’s wife Lauren Kyle drops 3-word reaction to Leon Draisaitl’s OT winner in Game 1 against Panthers

Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl scored the game winning goal in overtime against the Florida Panthers in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final on Wednesday night. Oilers captain Connor McDavid’s wife Lauren Kyle shared her excitement on Instagram after the Oilers cliched the 4-3 win on the night.

Lauren posted a snap of the stream featuring Leon Draisaitl’s post-game interview from her laptop while on a plane to Greece. Lauren Kyle is flying with Draisaitl’s fiancee Celeste Desjardins and Darnel Nurse’s partner Mikayla Nurse to attend Celeste’s bachelorette in Greece.

In the caption of her story, Lauren wrote:

“L.fg!!! 💙🧡” tagging @celestedesjardins and @mikayla.nurse

Leon Draisaitl opened the scoring for the Oilers on the night just over a minute into the first period. Florida tied it midway through the first when Sam Bennett redirected a shot while making contact with Stuart Skinner. Brad Marchand then scored on the power play to give the Panthers a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes.

Bennett made it 3-1 early in the second, but Edmonton responded right away with a slapshot goal from Viktor Arvidsson through traffic. In the third, Mattias Ekholm tied it 3-3 with a low shot off a pass from Connor McDavid. Leon Draisaitl then ended it in overtime after plays from Corey Perry and McDavid led to his winner, giving Edmonton a 1-0 lead in the series.

Leon Draisaitl opens up on Oilers' OT winner

In the post-game rinkside interview, Leon Draisaitl explained that the winning goal was the result of several strong plays starting with Corey Perry battling for the puck down low and getting it to Connor McDavid. McDavid then made a perfect pass, setting Draisaitl up for the finish.

“Great play by Corey down low to get it to Davo, and then obviously, great pass by Davo,” he said.

Draisaitl also reflected on the team’s mindset when they were down 3-1 against the defending champions. He pointed out that Viktor Arvidsson’s goal was key in shifting momentum for his team.

“We've done it all year, especially in the postseason. You know, we stick with it, and we're never going to quit,” he added.

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Draisaitl also mentioned that it felt good to take a 1-0 series lead but stressed on the importance of resetting and preparing for Game 2.

About the author

Anjum is an NHL reporter at Sportskeeda with over five years of professional experience in the spectator sports industry. Raised in Bahrain, Anjum grew up close to the Formula 1 and GP2 scene, but it was ice-sports that she truly had a chance to play at school.

Anjum prioritizes thorough research, fact-checking and verification of sources when reporting, and has worked for Oil on Whyte, Leafs Herald, the Nation of Blaugrana, Barca International Cules, FromTheBend, Last Word On Sports and NASA.

She got interested in ice hockey after watching the “MVP” trilogy as a second grader and has not gotten over the sport yet. Her favorite player is Alex Ovechkin, whose legendary one-timers live rent free in her heart. The iconic moment when Ovechkin reached 800 career goals with a hat trick in Chicago as the away crowd chanted “Ovi, Ovi” is probably her happiest memory from an ice-rink.

When not enjoying the game, Anjum can be found sailing, star-mapping or collaborating with fellow citizen scientists at NASA.

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Edited by Anjum Rajonno