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Draisaitl on Game 6 performance: 'I wasn't good tonight'

Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl - Getty Images
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Oilers star Leon Draisaitl called himself out for his performance Sunday as Edmonton was eliminated from the playoffs in Game 6 against the Vegas Golden Knights.

Draisaitl, who leads all players with 13 goals this postseason, was held without a point and was minus-4 in the 5-2 loss Sunday. 

"It hurts," said Draisaitl. "It's tough to find words right now. Obviously, when you start a season, we're in it to win it and we're at that stage. If you don't complete that, then it feels like a failure or a wasted year almost. It hurts. 

"We couldn't create enough 5-on-5, but we scored two 5-on-5 tonight and sometimes that's got to be enough. I have to take a lot of ownership myself. I wasn't good tonight. It's always tough. Guys play me hard, I know that, but I have to find a way to be better."

With the Oilers being eliminated, three of the top four players in playoff scoring are now out of the postseason in Connor McDavid (20 points), Draisaitl (18 points) and Evan Bouchard (17 points). McDavid scored his eighth goal of the postseason Sunday, while Bouchard was also held off the score sheet.

Head coach Jay Woodcroft said post-game he was pleased with the effort of his players in the loss despite seeing their offence held in check. 

"Obviously our group is very disappointed for coming up short of our goal, which was to push this series to seven games," Woodcroft said. "The effort was there from our players, they pushed until the very end and they tried to find the equalizers.

"In the end, it didn't turn our way, but I can't fault the effort from our players, but there were some points in our game where we felt we could have been better."

Sunday's loss represents a slight step back for the Oilers, who reached the Western Conference Final last season before being swept by the Colorado Avalanche.