‘It starts at the top, we can be better:’ Oilers’ Draisaitl reacts to team’s recent struggles
The Edmonton Oilers suffered an embarrassing loss in the Battle of Alberta on Wednesday night, as they fell to their archival Calgary Flames by a 4-3 margin in their final game before the Olympic break.
The Oilers, who have made both of the last two Stanley Cup Finals, are now fourth in the Pacific Division by points percentage with a record of 28-22-8.
In his postgame comments to the media, center Leon Draisaitl was blunt in his assessment of where the team stands at a crucial point of the year.
“Not consistent enough,” Draisaitl said of the team’s play as a whole. “This league’s too hard to, you know, just like lollygag through games and try to get win streaks going… You need everybody. It starts with coaches… you’re never going to win if you have four or five guys going, and it starts at the top. We can be better. Our leaders can be better.”
When asked about the play of goaltender Tristan Jarry, who has struggled since being acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins, Draisaitl placed responsibility on both the players working to keep chances away from the net and the goalies who have been beaten a few too many times of late.
“It goes hand in hand,” Draisaitl told the media. “We’ve got to defend better. We’ve got to make it easier on him, and then I’m sure he can be a little bit better too. You know, it’s a two-way street, but it starts with us in front of him, and then the game becomes a little bit easier for him. I think there are saves that our goalies need to make at some point.”
"Just not good enough right now." Leon Draisaitl shares his thoughts after the #Oilers defeat in Calgary. @Enterprise | #LetsGoOilers
Jarry stopped 21 of the 25 shots he faced against the Flames on Thursday, lowering his save percentage during his time as an Oiler to .869. Edmonton outshot Calgary by a 39-25 margin, and Draisaitl scored two goals on the power play, but Ryan Lomberg’s fourth goal of the year at the 6:44 mark of the third period proved to be decisive.
Draisaitl is off to Milano-Cortina to lead Team Germany in the men’s hockey tournament at the Winter Olympics, but in his postgame comments to the media on Wednesday, he showed that he’s already concerned about the state of the Oilers when the break ends.
“Obviously there’s a break now, but when we come back, we’ve got to get going,” he said.
Edmonton will get thrown right back into the fire after the break, as they have a three-game swing on the road against the three Californian teams in the division, all of which are in contention for playoff spots.