After a disappointing loss in Game 1 on Wednesday night, Edmonton Oilers head coach Jay Woodcroft did not hesitate to point out what his team was lacking.
“We made some uncharacteristic individual errors, and we were made to pay,” Woodcroft told reporters after the Oilers’ 6-4 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights, adding that Edmonton was “not clean enough defensively.”
The coach also promised his roster will adapt and improve against their new opponent.
“I just don’t think we played very well tonight,” Woodcroft explained. “We did some things to shoot ourselves in the foot. We can be better and we will be better. But tonight wasn’t our night.”
"We did some things to shoot ourselves in the foot. We can be better & we will be better."
Coach Woodcroft shares his perspective on Game 1. @Enterprise | #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/LtJivH9Fom
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) May 4, 2023
The one bright spot on Edmonton’s bench was, of course, forward Leon Draisaitl, who scored all four Oilers goals.
“For Leon, he typically raises his game at this time of year,” Woodcroft said. “His name’s right up there with some of the top people in the history of the game.”
Woodcroft was not surprised by the player’s dominance. Nor should he be, as Draisaitl has tallied up a whopping 29 goals and 74 points over just 45 career postseason games.
“Am I surprised or have I seen anything different? No,” the coach told reporters.
He was disappointed by his team being unable to use Draisaitl’s offensive explosion to their advantage.
“When you score four goals, that should be enough to win a game, but today we were a little bit loose defensively.”
Despite having the best playoff game of his career, there was no smile to be found on Draisaitl’s face after the loss either.
“Overall we just weren’t good enough, it’s not even close to how we play,” Draisaitl explained. When asked if he took any joy in scoring four goals, the German centre simply said “no.”
Edmonton will try to tie things up in Game 2 of the series, which will go down in Vegas on Saturday at 5 pm MT.
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