The Edmonton Oilers are stuck in a familiar rut – struggling to score and looking for answers – and Leon Draisaitl isn’t shy about taking the blame. He was lost for answers Sunday afternoon as he spoke to the media after another troubling loss. What he has been able to muster is that he doesn’t feel it and he needs to look in the mirror and find a way to get better.
These are interesting comments given the situation. Other than a mishandling where he lost the puck on a breakaway that could have tied the game, Draisaitl didn’t play terribly. He scored his fourth goal of the season and he is doing what he can. He may be guilty of too many turnovers near his own blue line, but so is everyone else.
As Cameron Frye says in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, “I’ll take the heat. No, I’ll take it. I want it.” Draisaitl is a leader on this team, and like Ferris, Connor McDavid (who has no goals this season) should get as much of the blame as Draisaitl. Still, Draisaitl wants the heat.
Related: Connor McDavid calls out Oilers flaws, but doesn’t take his own advice
After Sunday’s 4-2 loss to the Detroit Red Wings, the Oilers’ third straight loss in regular regulation, Draisaitl told reporters, “It’s certainly me not feeling it right now.” He added: “The game changes when your top guys feel it, and they see it, and they create offense. It changes the whole dynamic of the group. I just have to look in the mirror and think of something that can be improved.”
Edmonton’s entire offense remains lifeless. The team only conceded 18 shots on goal, which is unacceptable if the team cannot find a way to score goals. During their road trip, the Oilers seemed out of sync. They scored a total of fifteen goals in six games. That puts them in the bottom third in the NHL.
Coach Kris Knoblauch suggested that confidence is part of the problem, but stars like Leon and Connor shouldn’t lack confidence. If there are two players in the NHL who should feel good about what they are capable of, it’s these two. And the rest of the Oilers know it too. “We have great players here. We should be able to score goals anyway,” said Mattias Ekholm.
Draisaitl, meanwhile, continues to carry the burden as the Oilers try to avoid another early-season slump. “We’re just not scoring enough,” he said. “We are playing well defensively. You are not going to win many games if you score one or two goals.”
Can the rest of the team see the bullet Draisaitl takes here and stand up so he doesn’t have to? That will be an interesting story to watch as Edmonton heads into Ottawa on Tuesday and tries to make sure this road trip isn’t a total failure.
Next: Someone is getting cut by the oil companies: who will it be?
#Leon #Draisaitl #puts #pressure #Oilers #offense #fizzles