Elliotte Friedman raves about Edmonton Oilers' performance without Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl

NHL analyst Elliotte Friedman praised the Edmonton Oilers for their impressive performance in the playoffs, even without their two superstars, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, on the ice.

On Wednesday's episode of "32 Thoughts: The Podcast," Friedman highlighted the Oilers' remarkable turnaround in their five-on-five play without their two most dominant players. During the regular season, Edmonton was outscored 88-68 when McDavid and Draisaitl were off the ice, but the narrative has flipped in the playoffs.

"Now there are seven games in the playoffs," Friedman said. "After what happened on Tuesday night, they're +4. They're 11-7 without those two on the ice.

“And just as the winning goal and the insurance goal were scored by Zach Hyman and Connor Brown, without those two out there, it's very, very impressive. It's a complete turnaround from what we're used to, and it's a good moment for them."

On Tuesday, the Oilers won 4-2 against the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 1. After an early 0-2 deficit, Edmonton stormed back with four unanswered goals from Draisaitl, Zach Hyman, Connor Brown and Corey Perry.

Friedman was particularly struck by the goal celebration from Connor Brown, who scored the insurance goal.

"one of the best goal celebrations this year," Friedman said.

Mark Stone scored two goals for Vegas, while Calvin Pickard had 15 saves for Edmonton. Adin Hill turned away 24 saves in the loss.

The Oilers wrapped up their first-round series with a 4-2 win over the LA Kings on Thursday. They ended the regular season with a 48-29-5 record, securing third place in the Pacific Division.

Oilers HC Kris Knoblauch on 4-2 win against Vegas

The Edmonton Oilers made NHL history by becoming the first team to have five consecutive comeback wins in a single postseason.

However, Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said the team prefers a strong start and scoring the first goal rather than coming from behind.

“We know that's not the case, but we're going to have to see what happens," Knoblauch said on Tuesday. "I think if you can pick a period that you're going to be the strongest in as a coach,you want to be best in the third period because that's where it's going to come down to.”

Game 2 of the series between Edmonton and Vegas will be on Thursday.