After a sluggish start to the season, the 25-year-old Ottawa Senators winger has 16 points in his last 15 games.
Ottawa Senators winger Drake Batherson had a tough start to the 2023-24 season, relegated to the third line at one point and not scoring a goal until the eighth game of the season.
But just like it has for his team, things have begun to turn around.
Batherson has 16 points in his last 15 games as the Senators have clawed back to .500. While winning remains his first priority, he's now on pace for 70 points this season, which would be a career-high.
Batherson spoke to the Hockey News Ottawa about how he critiques his own performances.
"Some games you play well and don't get any points," Batherson said. "So, as long as at the end of the night, I can say that I gave my best and played a good game even though I didn't have any points..."
For Batherson, it's all about confidence.
"Getting points along with getting wins lately, obviously creates a lot of confidence in yourself," said Batherson. "Sometimes you play a terrible game, (but) you still get two points."
An example of Batherson's rising confidence was his fantastic saucer pass to Tim Stutzle for the fourth goal against the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday night.
"I just saw Timmy flying," said Batherson. "We kind of can read off each other, and he knew that I had to put it to an area, and he just had to get to that area."
Batherson raved about the impact that his new teammate, Vladimir Tarasenko, has had on his play and says he loves listening to stories about the St. Louis Blues' 2019 Stanley Cup run.
"Every time we're on the road, I'm always asking him about that," Batherson said. "We went on a preseason trip to Nova Scotia, and we're all around the campfire, and he told a big story about the whole Cup run, and I thought it was unreal. Every guy was just dialed, listening to him talk. It was pretty special."
Batherson says he gets chirped every summer by his NHL superstar friends, Nathan Mackinnon, Sidney Crosby, and Brad Marchand when they're all practicing together back home in Nova Scotia.
"I'm one of the only guys without (a Stanley Cup ring) in our summer skates," said Batherson. "I mean, Nate's got one, Brad's got one, and Sid's got three. So, hopefully, I'm next on the totem pole. They definitely give me grief."
Batherson has even thought about what he'd do at the parade in Ottawa if they were to win the Stanley Cup someday.
"I'd definitely try to match some of the parades from Washington (2018 Stanley Cup). I think they party pretty good," Batherson said.
Of course, the first big step is making the playoffs, which the Senators haven't done since 2017.