Leon Draisaitl talks about the success the power play had against the Washington Capitals after a few games of coming up dry.
Leon Draisaitl talks about the success the power play had against the Washington Capitals after a few games of coming up dry.
EDMONTON -- One thing that appears to be synonymous with the Edmonton Oilers is power play goals.
For whatever reason (before last night) the Oilers had only scored one power play goal over the last four games - despite having 12 opportunities.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQUKBfgMJko[/embed]
It appeared to be as if a switch was flipped last night, as the Oilers exploded for three goals on four total power plays in a 7-2 win over the Washington Capitals.
The usual suspects scored on the power play Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Zach Hyman. Hyman's tally was originally credited to Evan Bouchard - and then was changed to Hyman before the end of the third period.
Apparently a few Edmonton-based journalists have written about the Oilers power play in March - and how it was converting at a 5.9% rate before last night.
Apparently Draisaitl reads a lot online, because he had a humourous response to a question last night about the power play.
He was asked about the "struggling power play" and what "went right tonight." The German forward didn't believe the power play was struggling at all, "I think people overreacted on it a little bit. People - all of you guys here." He gestures to the room of journalists in the room with a smile.
He then turned serious and gave a more thoughtful answer, "we have a really good power play, we know that. But sometimes it doesn't go in, or we're not sharp or we're not good on it."
"At the end of the day we always know that when push comes to shove we have a good power play."
The Oilers may have gone through a rough patch on the power play - but they have the fourth best power play in the league converting at 26.7%. That seems pretty good to me.
I think he's on to something.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKwdIkja6rU[/embed]
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