'That's not how you win': Oilers refuse to point fingers amid slump
The Edmonton Oilers have been garnering a ton of attention as of late, and not in the good "Connor McDavid just did something amazing" way.
The team just lost its seventh game in a row on Thursday night, a 6-0 shellacking at the hands of the contending Florida Panthers. Since the Oilers' last win on Dec. 18, head coach Dave Tippett publicly lambasted struggling goaltender Mikko Koskinen to the media and a reporter accused star forward Leon Draisaitl of being "pissy."
At the center of it all, Tippett and the Oilers' goaltending issues are firmly in the hot seat amid the team's free fall in the standings after a blisteringly hot start to the season.
However, the players aren't interested in playing the blame game.
"It's unfair just to blame one guy. We're all responsible on the ice … we're all responsible together," Oilers forward Warren Foegele told the media Friday, according to TSN. "We're a team and we're here to win. You just can't be pointing fingers and saying, 'Oh it's that guy's fault, this guy's fault.' It doesn't work like that, that's not how you win."
Teammate Colton Sceviour echoed Foegele's sentiment of togetherness.
"As much as people want to say it's one guy or one thing or another, it's on all of us," Sceviour said. "I think when you hear the talk - it's hard not to hear it - that you can't help but feel responsible that there's something you could be doing differently in certain situations to help your teammates and the other guys on the ice out.
"I'm sure I’m not the only one (who) looks at themselves and tries to figure out how they can do something differently to benefit the team."
Tippett, meanwhile, emphasized the importance of taking things one game at a time.
"They've been great, they're all in. … People are trying to find solutions here, it's not as if we're just rolling around," he said. "People are trying to find solutions. We’ll continue to pound away until we can get them."
The Oilers return to action in an all-important clash against the Calgary Flames on Saturday.