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Oilers’ Jones: ‘The players lose yet coaches, management take the blame’

Phoenix Coyotes v Edmonton Oilers

EDMONTON, AB - JANUARY 24: Radim Vrbata #17 of the Phoenix Coyotes celebrates after scoring his team’s second goal against the Edmonton Oilers during an NHL game at Rexall Place on January 24, 2014 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. (Photo by Derek Leung/Getty Images)

Derek Leung

Ryan Jones had an assist for the Edmonton Oilers in a losing cause Friday, then went to bat for the coaches and management team in what has been a disastrous season.

The Oilers lost to the visiting Phoenix Coyotes by a final score of 4-3. They surrendered four goals through the first 23 minutes of the evening, then tried to pull off a third-period comeback that ultimately fell short. The Oilers now have only two wins in their last 10 games.

“I thought we rebounded fairly well but it’s happened all too often. We wait until we get down in order to put the pressure on. It almost seems like we put ourselves in a situation where we have nothing to lose and then we start playing,” Jones told reporters following the game.

“It’s unacceptable. As a player you see the things that are said and written and it’s a pass-the-blame game. These guys in the back room, our coaches, our management, they don’t play the game. They send the guys out. And we play the same system as basically every other team in the NHL and it’s the players that lose and yet they (coaches and management) take the blame.

“It’s about time the guys in this locker room took a little bit of accountability on themselves and stop letting other people take the blame.”

Three days ago, Edmonton’s head coach Dallas Eakins, in his first year with the club after being one of the highly coveted available bench bosses last off-season, is aware that he could soon find himself out of a job given the results the Oilers continue to pile up.

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