Leon Draisaitl Puts The Heat on Himself as Oilers’ Offence Falls Flat

The Edmonton Oilers are stuck in a familiar rut — struggling to score and searching for answers — and Leon Draisaitl isn’t shying away from taking the blame. He was lost for answers on Sunday afternoon when he spoke with the media following another troubling loss. What he was able to muster is that he’s not feeling it and that he needs to look in the mirror and find a way to be better.

These are interesting comments considering the situation. Outside of a mishandle 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’s doing what he can. He’s perhaps guilty of too many turnovers near the team’s own blue line, but so is everyone else.

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Like 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 on the season) should be blamed as much as Draisaitl. Still, Draisaitl wants the heat.

Related: Connor McDavid Calls Out Oilers’ Flaws — But Not Taking His Own Advice

After Sunday’s 4-2 loss to the Detroit Red Wings, the Oilers’ third straight defeat in regulation, Draisaitl told reporters, “It’s me that’s certainly not feeling it right now.” He added, “The game changes when your top guys are feeling it, and they’re seeing it, and they’re creating offence. It changes the entire dynamic of the group. I just have to take a look in the mirror and figure out something to be better.”

Edmonton’s entire offence remains lifeless. The team managed just 18 shots on goal against, which is unacceptable when the team can’t find a way to score goals. Throughout their road trip, the Oilers have looked out of sync. They’ve got a total of 15 goals in six games. That puts them in the bottom third in the NHL.

Coach Kris Knoblauch suggested confidence is part of the problem, but stars like Leon and Connor shouldn’t lack confidence. If any two players in the NHL should feel good about what they’re capable of, it’s those two. And, the rest of the Oilers know it too. “We have great players in here. We should be able to score goals no matter what,” Mattias Ekholm said.

Draisaitl, meanwhile, continues to shoulder the burden as the Oilers look to avoid another early-season slide. “We’re just not scoring enough,” he said. “We’re playing fine defensively. You’re not going to win many games when you score one or two goals.”

Can the rest of the team see the bullet Draisaitl is taking here and step up so he doesn’t have to? That will be an interesting narrative to watch as Edmonton goes into Ottawa on Tuesday and tries to make it so that this road trip isn’t a total failure.

Next: Someone Is Getting Cut by the Oilers: Who Will It Be?