The Edmonton Oilers lost. Again. That’s four straight defeats to begin the season.
If you’re into finding the positive in anything, no matter how bad, they did manage a single point in a shootout loss last Saturday.
So, there’s that. After all, following a 6-1 loss L.A. on Tuesday, head coach Dallas Eakins found a positive because players on the bench “stuck together.”
That’s nice.
And while they possess some talented players up front, like Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle, the Oilers can’t prevent goals. Nothing over the first four games would indicate otherwise.
They’ve given up 13 in the last two games and 22 in four games, not including the shootout winner for the Vancouver Canucks.
The Calgary Flames, Canucks and L.A. Kings have all feasted on Edmonton’s complete lack of defending.
This time, it was the Arizona Coyotes that did the dismantling. The visiting Oilers lost 7-4, running their record to a dismal 0-3-1 to begin the season, while Mikkel Boedker had the hat trick for Arizona and first of his career, according to Craig Morgan of FoxSportsArizona.
Goalie Ben Scrivens allowed six goals on just 29 shots. His save percentage now sits at a cool .800 and his goals-against average hit 5.22 following Wednesday’s loss.
“We had about three different teams on the ice it seems. We played well in stretches, then didn’t play well,” said Scrivens, as per the club’s Twitter account.
“I can’t throw anyone under the bus when I’m playing like that. I’ve got to take care of my own house first,” he added.
And it wasn’t like the Oilers could just get Scrivens out of the net, sit him on the bench to calm down or think things through.
Earlier in the day, the club put fellow goalie Viktor Fasth on injured reserve with a groin strain and recalled Richard Bachman from Oklahoma City
Here’s a rapid Twitter reaction to the Oilers loss:
Man, 13 goals allowed in the past 26 1/2 hours or so.
— Brian Compton (@BComptonNHL) October 16, 2014
Relax everyone, it's only year 5 of the rebuild ... #Oilers
— Derek Van Diest (@DerekVanDiest) October 16, 2014
Imagine how many points guys like Ovechkin, Crosby, or Stamkos would get if they were allowed to play a full 82-game season against Edmonton
— Ryan Dadoun (@RyanDadoun) October 16, 2014
So who starts Friday? Brodeur? Or Bryzgalov?
— Terry Jones (@byterryjones) October 16, 2014