Leon Draisaitl is still second in team scoring on the Oilers, but he hasn't been performing up to his standard so far this year, and some fans want to see him benched.
Draisaitl recorded a power-play assist last night, but otherwise had a noticeably poor game and continued some troubling trends. In the second period, Draisaitl took a senseless cross checking penalty against Shayne Gostisbehere out of frustration, something that's been a problem for him. Coach Knoblauch has already benched Draisaitl for this problem earlier this year.
There were a number of other instances last night of Draisaitl seemingly lacking effort on routine plays, like tagging up on offsides, backchecking, and on the overtime goal - not fully laying out to block the pass.on this particular play, Connor McDavid blew the zone early too.
Draisaitl is far from the only one who's had a slow start on the Oilers this year, but as the team's second best player, he needs to begin to step up and make an impact this season.
Plenty of fans took to social media after the game to express their dissatisfaction with Draisaitl's game currently, with some even suggesting he should be benched again.
At practice today, Coach Knoblauch clearly wasn't happy with the effort from the entire team when he stopped practice to hold a quick team meeting. It should be a wake up call to every player that they need to start dialling in, even beginning in practice.
The Oilers now have three days off to recoup and game plan for taking on the Pittsburgh Penguins at home on Friday night. The Oilers will sorely want a win, and to avoid dropping their record to 2-5-1.
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