The Oilers have to correct what is holding them back from putting together more than two good games in a row as they continue to falter against the best of the NHL's Western Conference.
EDMONTON - Beating the Florida Panthers 6-3 to finish their longest road trip of the season should have given the Edmonton Oilers a boost back at home on Tuesday.
Instead, a sellout crowd watched their team embarrass itself. And the boo birds returned.
Losing 8-3 to the Dallas Stars marked the third time the Oilers gave up seven goals this season, the only team in the NHL to do so. Stuart Skinner gave up four goals on just eight shots in the first period before being pulled in favor of Calvin Pickard, who allowed four goals on 22 shots.
The Oilers' tone-setter this game wasn't Leon Draisaitl or Connor McDavid. It was 20-year-old Connor Clattenburg, who scored his first career goal in his second career game.
Edmonton has yet to win more than two games in a row this season. That's left them two points behind the Utah Mammoth in the second wild-card spot, although Utah has two games in hand.
McDavid told the media this team hasn't lost confidence, but it knows it must figure out how to come out with better starts consistently.
"We have to find a way to generate our own momentum, our own energy and find a way to get ourselves going," McDavid said.
Watch Avry Lewis-McDougall's video column up above for more about how the Oilers are struggling to keep up with the Western Conference's best.
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