Draisaitl sick of Oilers' defensive woes: 'We just give up too many goals'

Leon Draisaitl wants the Edmonton Oilers to tighten up.

Fresh off Edmonton's third loss in a row, a 5-4 defeat by the Washington Capitals on Monday night, the Oilers superstar called for changes to his club's approach.

"It's getting old, battling back," Draisaitl said, according to Sportsnet. "It's exhausting. It's tiring. We just give up too many goals."

Edmonton got within one goal of Washington three separate times in the high-scoring affair, but the Capitals ultimately took the two points, aided by scoring four power-play tallies in five opportunities.

"We give up goals on the kill. We give up two-on-ones," Draisaitl said. "Not good enough right now. ... I'm no penalty-killing juggernaut. I think maybe right now we're a little hesitant. We don't really know when to pressure, when not to pressure, and then we just sit back and teams find a way to take advantage of us. Something that needs to be cleaned up."

Oilers head coach Jay Woodcroft agreed with his star player's assessment.

"You can't give up four power-play goals in a game and expect to win it," the bench boss said. "Flat-out not good enough on the penalty kill."

After Monday's performance, the Oilers rank 30th in the NHL in penalty-kill efficiency (67.9%) and 27th in goals against (47) through 13 games.

Goaltender Jack Campbell took his share of blame for the Oilers' struggles after Saturday's loss to the Dallas Stars, calling his play this season "pathetic." Edmonton's most notable free-agent signing of this past summer owns an .874 save percentage and 4.20 goals-against average in eight appearances with his new club.

The Oilers' next three games are on the road against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Carolina Hurricanes, and Florida Panthers.

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