The story at the end of the Oilers comebacks could've been a lot different on another night, with the players' fightback a positive out of losing efforts.
"It's all about winning hockey games," Draisaitl said. "I think throughout a year you have games that you're not supposed to win but you do win, and you have games that you are supposed to win but somehow you find a way to lose."
"I think the last two games, even though we weren't at our best, we had the chance to win those games. We just couldn't find a way. It's a matter of showing up and playing the right way for 60 minutes."
To the players, the standard of expectation has been elevated as an evolution of the club that's been led by Tippett and the Oilers leadership group that includes Draisaitl and McDavid.
"It needs to be," McDavid said. "You don't want to lose any game, let alone three in a row. We need to be a desperate group tomorrow and find a way to get a big win."
The team's pulse comes from the leadership group and it was highlighted specifically in the bench boss' post-game comments in Minnesota as to how he'll get a read on the team's readiness to respond.
"They were all right on board this morning," Tippett said. "They all understand what happened (Thursday) night and the last few games. You have to stay positive, but you also have to recognize some issues have to get cleaned up. The way I looked at them this morning, they were ready to make the corrections needed. We'll see tomorrow."
LINEUP NOTES
As mentioned, Draisaitl and McDavid are set to be reunited on the top line with Zack Kassian for the first time since a 5-2 loss to the Vancouver Canucks on November 30.
McDavid mentioned that the Dynamic Duo's best offence comes on nights when the pair are responsible defensively.
"Just playing the right way. Stopping on pucks, not turning it over, defending well - I think it starts there," McDavid said. "When we're defending well, we have the puck more. We're coming up the ice together. When we get too spread out, it gets a little slow. We have to find a way to defend well against a really good offensive team."