The Edmonton Oilers are winless through the first three games of the season, but superstar Leon Draisaitl is not worried about the tough start.
With a young Philadelphia Flyers team in town tonight, the Oilers will be looking to pick up their first victory of the year. It’s been more than a tough start for Edmonton, having dropped a pair of embarrassing losses over the weekend to presumptive bottom-feeders in the Chicago Blackhawks and Calgary Flames.
It’s even worse than the 1-2-0 start last year’s Oilers team got off to. All this has got fans in an uproar about yet another early-season fumble. When asked about how he saw the team’s play, Draisaitl admitted it wasn’t ideal but he has liked parts of what he has seen from the Oilers.
“I think we’ve had enough looks to score more goals than what we’ve been scoring,” Draisaitl said. “I actually think that there’s stretches where we played some pretty good hockey. I think last game [against the Flames], the first period or half the game was pretty good, and then we kind of fell apart a little after that.
“If we can find a way to put a more solid effort together for 60 minutes, I think we’ll give ourselves a good chance.”
“It’s all important, especially when you’re in a funk. You’ve gotta play from your own end out, you can’t start in the offensive zone.”
Leon Draisaitl on the small details of the #Oilers game.@Enterprise | #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/s0KilntofU
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) October 15, 2024
The Oilers should still have the confidence to climb themselves out of this hole. They managed to do it last season and ended up just a single win away from the Stanley Cup. After talking about having a good start for most of the offseason, Draisaitl admitted that it’s frustrating to once again find themselves in an early hole.
With that said, the focus is staying on what’s next and not dwelling on the past.
“It’s not ideal, it’s not where we want it to be,” Draisaitl told reporters. “We put emphasis on having a good start and haven’t had that so obviously there is some frustration.
“Tonight’s a great chance for us to get a win, and go from there and build our game just get better day by day.”
There was also an emphasis on the team’s lack of puck luck to start the season. Edmonton has hurled 94 shots against opposing goaltenders this season and has just three goals to show for it.
That works out to a shot percentage of just 3.19%, which is at the bottom of the NHL. This number should improve as the season goes on. However, it is shocking to see such an offensively gifted team struggle so much to score goals.
“We all want to score; it’s just sometimes the puck doesn’t bounce your way, the puck doesn’t want to go in, and sometimes you’re not creating those certain looks for yourself,” Draisaitl explained. “I think we can all dial it in a little bit in front of the net and create some more looks.”
Draisaitl will be getting a chance to play on Connor McDavid’s wing tonight as he tries to find his first of the season.
Every game presents an opportunity to turn the ship around, and the Oilers are desperately hoping they can finally get into the win column tonight.