Things did not go Leon Draisaitl’s way at the Milano Cortina Olympics.
The Edmonton Oilers superstar saw his first-ever Olympic experience come to an end on Wednesday, with Germany falling 6-2 to Slovakia in the quarter-finals. It was a disappointing end for a German team that was hoping to play for an Olympic medal in Italy.
Draisaitl did not hide his disappointment after the game, talking to German reporters about the sting of elimination.
“There were simply too many mistakes. In a game like this, you have to give yourself as long as possible a chance to win at some point. We didn’t do that at all,” said Draisaitl in a translated answer to German sports outlet kicker.
“If you play like that, you don’t even give yourself a chance.”
Slovakia scores 2 goals in 33 seconds 🤯
🇸🇰 3 – 0 🇩🇪
WATCH: https://t.co/uxZKWlhIQW pic.twitter.com/gmBxapgZKi
— CBC Olympics (@CBCOlympics) February 18, 2026
The Germans were down just 1-0 after the opening 20 minutes, but disaster struck in the second period. Slovakia peppered Germany with three goals, two of which were scored just 33 seconds apart, to give the Slovaks a 4-1 lead headed into the third.
Lukas Reichel and Frederik Tiffels had the only German goals in the defeat.
It’s a loss that robs Oilers fans of the opportunity of seeing their two star players battle head-to-head on the Olympic stage. Had the Germans won, they would have advanced to play Connor McDavid and Team Canada in the semi-final.
The early exit doesn’t mean that Draisaitl had a bad Olympic showing. He led the German Olympic team in scoring with two goals and seven points, including an assist in the loss against Slovakia. Overall, he currently ranks seventh in Olympic scoring, ahead of players like Nathan MacKinnon, Auston Matthews, and Sidney Crosby.
McDavid now remains the only Oilers hope at bringing back an Olympic medal to the Alberta capital.