“Our tough stretch has been at the start of a season, so it feels different, but I think everybody is working and endeavouring to be at their absolute best anytime,” Woodcroft said. “When you're in one of those situations that we find ourselves in and you can do something out of the ordinary like partake in an outdoor game at home – families are in the building, you practice outside, you have a family skate – I think that brings juice to the group and provides a necessary jolt to the system that's what our hope is.
“I thought today was a good day. We have to build on it by having a good day tomorrow.”
Connor McDavid echoed his coach's statement, saying that it’s high time for him and his teammates to reach their full potential after a disappointing start by their own standards and expectations for this season.
“I think you'd be very concerned if guys were coming up here and being joyful and talking about how it doesn't really matter,” McDavid said. “Obviously we know it hasn't been a good start, things haven't gone well, everything that has gone wrong feels like it or could go wrong has gone wrong, and we're going to change that tomorrow.”
“We feel this is a good little way for our group to come together in a unique situation and kind of a fun environment with lots of families around.”
A BETTER 60-MINUTE EFFORT
“I think our team's in a good frame of mind,” Woodcroft said during his media availability on Friday. “We have a good sense of belief in each other, but we’ve got to go out and show it and we’ve got to show it for 60 minutes.
“It can't be a 20-minute plan. It can't be a 40-minute plan – it has to be a well-executed, 60-minute plan.”
The Oilers have liked certain areas of their game over the course of their slow start, but beyond their lone win this season in Nashville, they’ve yet to be satisfied with their effort over the full 60 minutes in any of their other contests.
“I think there are pieces of our game here and there that we can be happy with, but obviously we need to get better and we're going to start tomorrow,” Nugent-Hopkins said.