Kings forward Philip Danault accuses Oilers superstar of selling penalties before playoffs
Photo credit: Imagn Images
Los Angeles Kings forward Philip Danault has been at the center of this year's playoff rivalry with chirps toward the Oilers, and now he's taking aim at Leon Draisaitl.
In their last matchup, Danault accused the Oilers of dressing the B-squad with the intention of hurting the Kings, and the Oilers have been leaning into that diss.
Philip Danault accuses Draisaitl of baiting penalty calls in new interview
Speaking to the Athletic in a recent interview about defending against the Oilers, Philip Danault didn't hold back. The Kings center gave McDavid and Draisaitl their praise, but also said that Draisaitl is looking to «create penalties».
He holds your stick and your arm a lot, too. He tries to create penalties. That's what he's been doing the last three years, and it works. You have to be careful of that and we know what he's doing.
- Philip Danault
- Philip Danault
Danault's reaching here to say that Draisaitl is chronically holding players' sticks and arms, both of which are penalties. He's blatantly accusing Draisaitl of taking penalties himself, and selling calls to the officials.
While he did appear to take a shot at Draisaitl here, Danault also greatly praised him and McDavid's ability and welcomes the challenge to defend against them.
I love the challenge. [McDavid's] the best center in the league - or top three for sure. He's very electric. The hardest to play against. Just the way he changes direction is quick.
Different than McDavid, that's for sure. [Draisaitl's] a great player. He makes sick plays out there. He creates space by himself.
- Philip Danault
Different than McDavid, that's for sure. [Draisaitl's] a great player. He makes sick plays out there. He creates space by himself.
- Philip Danault
However, the Oilers superstar does use his body position frequently to put other players at risk of taking penalties.
Draisaitl is a physically strong player for a superstar, and often drops one hand off his stick to protect the puck with an opposing player on his back. If they're not careful, taking a penalty against Draisaitl is easy there. It's an elite skill of Draisaitl's.
The German Oilers superstar hasn't played in a few weeks after sustaining an injury against the San Jose Sharks, but is expected to be in the lineup for Game 1.
Hopefully, Leon can employ a little bit of what Danault is talking about here, and make the Kings forward eat his words again.
| POLL | ||
AVRIL 21 | 707 ANSWERS Kings forward Philip Danault accuses Oilers superstar of selling penalties before playoffs Do you think Danault is right that Draisaitl creates penalties on purpose? | ||
| Yes | 224 | 31.7 % |
| No | 483 | 68.3 % |
| List of polls | ||
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