Leon Draisaitl gave his side of the story in regards to his high hit on Aleksander Barkov.
Leon Draisaitl gave his side of the story in regards to his high hit on Aleksander Barkov.
EDMONTON -- Leon Draisaitl doesn't fancy himself a dirty player.
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The other half of the Edmonton Oilers' dynamic duo has found himself at the center of unfortunate discourse. Draisaitl caught Aleksander Barkov with a high hit in the third period of Game two.
Draisaitl received a two minute penalty on the play, and no supplemental discipline.
Meanwhile, Barkov's availability for Game three has been up in the air since then. Just this morning he was given the go-ahead to play for the Florida Panthers tonight.
Barkov was spotted centering the top line for the Panthers at morning skate earlier today. It looks like the Panthers' captain will not miss a beat.
In speaking with the media this morning, Draisaitl explained his side of the story in regards to the hit, "I caught him in an unfortunate spot, I'll leave it at that."
One thing that the Oilers' pivot emphasized was who he is as a player, "we all know I'm not a player that plays with an intent to injure anybody. I have no track record of that."
"I can't stress it enough, I'm not someone who plays the game of hockey wanting to injure somebody."
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Draisaitl is a far cry from the type of player who does "intend to injure." When rewatching the play it's easy to tell that Barkov's head was not the target. Draisaitl's elbow does come up, seemingly after the initial contact.
One way or the other, it's good to see that both players are ready to go toe-to-toe in a must win game during the Stanley Cup Final.
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