'We'd love to turn this around for the city': Draisaitl hopes to end Oilers' slump against Flames
Leon Draisaitl knows the Edmonton Oilers could be playing a lot better.
He knows there are no excuses about the 6-0 loss to the Florida Panthers on Thursday, a third-period collapse he deemed "unacceptable."
Last time Draisaitl talked with the media earlier this week, a reporter called him "pissy" for being short with him.
However on Saturday, hours before the season's second Battle of Alberta, the German star was more enthusiastic in his answers and hopeful the team would turn it around.
"It's us in the room that have to stick together and that have to get the job done. We're sticking together no matter what. It's been like that all year, it's going to continue to be like that," Draisaitl said.
"We would love to turn this around for the city as well. I know how much the Oilers mean to the fans and to the city."
At the start of December, the Oilers had the best record in the NHL with 16 wins out of 21 games.
Since then, Edmonton has the worst record in the league, with only two mid-December wins in their last 15 contests.
The Oilers now sit seventh in the Pacific Division and six points back of the final playoff spot.
Edmonton has had success against the Calgary Flames in recent seasons and won the Battle of Alberta 5-2 on Oct. 16.
"Hopefully tonight is the night stuff goes in our direction," Draisaitl said.
"We're obviously looking to get out of this slump…tonight would be a great time to start that."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Canada's most wanted fugitive arrested in P.E.I. in connection with Toronto homicide
A suspect in a fatal shooting in Toronto’s east end last summer has been arrested in Charlottetown, just one week after he topped a list of Canada’s most wanted fugitives.
BREAKING Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
Concerns about plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall plexiglass barriers.
OPP officer said 'someone's going to get hurt' before wrong-way Hwy. 401 crash
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
Poilievre unrepentant over calling Trudeau 'wacko' as his MPs say Speaker should resign
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Toddler of Phoenix first responder dies after bounce house goes airborne
A two-year-old child died after a strong gust of wind sent the bounce house he was in airborne and into a neighbouring lot in central Arizona, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office said.
Plane overshoots runway at airport in St. John's, N.L., no injuries reported
Investigators from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada are headed to St. John's, N.L., after a plane overshot a runway at the city's airport this afternoon.
A teen was found buried in a basement in New York. An engraved ring helped police learn her identity two decades later
For more than two decades, the unknown victim was nicknamed "Midtown Jane Doe" because she was found in the Hell's Kitchen neighbourhood of New York City. But this week, investigators finally revealed her identity.