Draisaitl visibly frustrated following Edmonton Oilers' fifth straight loss
Leon Draisaitl is quite literally the only positive surrounding the Edmonton Oilers right now.
The Oilers are in a massive funk, as they suffered their fifth straight loss last night after being defeated 4-3 by the Florida Panthers. During that stretch, they’ve been outscored 26-14.
To Draisaitl’s credit, he’s continued his excellent season over the tough stretch, scoring six goals over those five games. The rest of his team as a collective whole, however, has struggled immensely, and it’s clear that there is frustration beginning to build in the 29-year-old.
Frustration setting in as Leon Draisaitl kicks the bench door on the way off the ice đ
The Oilers have dropped 5 games in a row. pic.twitter.com/H7P7lvmKxo
— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) February 28, 2025
Draisaitl slammed the gate as he left the ice at Amerant Bank Arena last night and appeared to also have some choice words for goaltender Stuart Skinner.
While Skinner has struggled as of late, the frustration may have been specifically regarding what transpired in the dying seconds of the game. The Oilers were able to gain control of the puck and skate it into the Panthers’ zone with roughly 15 seconds remaining, but for whatever reason, Skinner didn’t skate to the bench for an extra attacker.
“I’m not in the building, I wasn’t on the ice, but I watched it in real time. My impression was that Leon said something to Skinner because he didn’t come to the bench to add the extra attacker,” former NHLer Jason Strudwick said last night on the Got Yer Back podcast. “I might be way off, but in real time, I felt that Leon may have looked over his shoulder and said something to Skinner there.”
Despite his recent struggles and potential late-game mistake last night, Skinner remained his usual upbeat self when speaking to reporters afterward.
“Every year brings up different battles, different adversities for us,” Skinner said. “This is another one where we get to kind of figure it out as a new team here. It’s going to obviously take all of us chipping in together, talking to each other about what we can do better. Sometimes you gotta go through the crap.”
The Oilers will look to get things back on track tomorrow night versus the Carolina Hurricanes.