Draisaitl sounds off on skidding Oilers: ‘It starts with coaches… our leaders can be better’
The Edmonton Oilers are heading into the Olympic break on a sour note and forward Leon Draisaitl pointed a finger at the team’s coaching staff and star players amid a three-game losing skid.
“We’re not consistent enough. This league is too hard to lollygag through games and trying to get winning streaks going. You need everybody. It starts with coaches. Everybody,” Draisaitl said after a 4-3 loss to the Calgary Flames on Wednesday.
“You’re never going to win if you have four or five guys going. It starts at the top, we can be better, our leaders can be better. We’ll take the break and regroup.”
The loss to the Flames came a day after a 5-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs, with a 7-3 loss to the Minnesota Wild still hanging over the club from the weekend.
“We’re giving up too many goals,” Draisaitl added. “We can’t defend. The penalty kill is not great. There are many things that are part of it. We’re not good enough right now.”
The Oilers had a stretch in January where the team allowed just three goals in four games, suffering a 1-0 loss to the New York Islanders and a 2-1 loss to the New Jersey Devils to go just 2-2 over the four games despite blowout wins over the Vancouver Canucks and St. Louis Blues. In the seven games since, however, the Oilers have allowed a total of 34 goals, going to 3-4-0 thanks to a 6-5 overtime win over the Washington Capitals, a 7-4 win against the Anaheim Ducks and a 4-3 overtime win over the San Jose Sharks.
The Oilers are coming off back-to-back trips to the Stanley Cup final, seeing various low points in both seasons before playing their best in the playoffs. Draisaitl said Wednesday, however, he does not see reasons to hold optimism that same pattern will continue this year.
“We’re a different team,” he said. “We’re not the same team. We’re not as good right now. We’re not even close. We need to understand that. It’s time. There is a break now but when we come back we have to get going.”
Frustrated Draisaitl says Oilers are ‘not even close’ to last year’s team Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl voiced his frustration after the team’s loss to the Flames on Wednesday night, calling on the coaches and his teammates to be better when they come back from the Olympic break.
The Oilers sit second in the Pacific Division after Wednesday’s loss, just two points back of the Vegas Golden Knights for first. The team is also, though, just four points clear of the Los Angeles Kings, who are currently out of a playoff spot but have three games in hand and added Artemi Panarin on Wednesday.
