EDMONTON — Frankly, one can only hope the Edmonton Oilers rebuild happens as swiftly as the Calgary Flames’ did.
The unbeaten Flames walked into Rogers Place, hung around on a break or two from the officials, and then outscored Edmonton 3-0 in a critical third period of a 4-1 win.
The minutes that mattered most were won by the Flames, and it wasn’t close.
“We are getting beat in a lot of battles. We’re getting beat in a lot of different ways,” lamented Oilers captain Connor McDavid, who had one lonely assist and was on the ice on two key Calgary goals — directly at fault for one of them.
McDavid’s game is poor, Leon Draisaitl’s is worse, and Evan Bouchard’s somewhere south of that. Viktor Arvidsson and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins are both non-factors three games into a season where not a single Oilers player has registered a start they can be proud of.
“Puck play has been bad all over,” McDavid said. “Guys fumbling it and not handling passes, (passes) in the air, passes behind guys… It’s just not good enough in terms of the puck play. When you are not clean with the puck it’s tough to get the offence.”
Edmonton’s zone exits have been atrocious, by and large. One signing on the blue-line, Josh Brown, couldn’t make the team.
Meanwhile newcomer Ty Emberson went from the second pair in Game 1, to the third pair Game 2, to the press box in Game 3. His game has to improve by a country mile if this defence corps is going to get the Oilers to the trade deadline for an upgrade.
In the offensive zone, despite a game opening goal by Jeff Skinner that came on a rebound, the Oilers are over-passing and loathe to rifle a puck into traffic and hunt down a rebound or a greasy goal.
“Ultimately it hasn’t been good enough,” McDavid said. “Up and down the lineup, myself first and foremost. Everybody could be better and everybody will be better.”
You could label this a Stanley Cup hangover, but that begs the question: What was the excuse for the 2-9-1 start to last season?
“We obviously have to play with more desperation,” said head coach Kris Knoblauch, whose parents travelled in from Saskatchewan to witness a pair of gruesome losses this weekend to Chicago and Calgary. “When you had a season like we had last year, coming back with the expectations being really high, I don’t think there’s enough desperation.
“You can’t just show up, play hockey and that’s good enough. This game’s about playing with desperation and right now, we’re lacking that.”
The loss sends the spiralling Oilers to 0-3 on the season. It was their best effort of the young season, a decent 40 minutes in all.
Then they got a couple of perceived bad breaks — two disallowed goals, one obvious, one questionable — and the Oilers hung their heads.
There aren’t any participation ribbons in the National Hockey League, and teams that average one goal per game — Edmonton’s average through three tepid games — lose a lot more than they’ll ever win.
Knoblauch changed all four lines to start the game, then threw that alignment into the blender in the third period Sunday.
Has he figured out the puzzle that his forward group has become, with some new faces in important places?
“The fact I changed things up the third, the answer is, no, I haven’t,” Knoblauch said. “Some guys played strong games with the changes and others just didn’t respond.”
The Oilers have been outscored 15-3 through three games this season. And their best players have been, at times, their worst players.
McDavid’s line was victimized on Calgary’s first two goals, and a lazy offside by Arvidsson cost Derek Ryan a goal on a Flames challenge that was indisputable.
Arvidsson is a veteran, and that play is unacceptable at any time — but especially now for a struggling, goals-starved team like Edmonton. The new addition hasn’t helped through three games, and surely hurt his team Sunday in erasing a go-ahead goal that may have sent the Oilers on their way.
In the words of the Oilers captain: Not. Good. Enough.
Of the two successful challenges by Calgary, a Corey Perry deflection goal that was cancelled was a true head-scratcher. This was the NHL’s explanation:
“Video review determined Edmonton’s Corey Perry had a significant presence in the crease which impaired Dan Vladar’s ability to play his position prior to his goal. The decision was made in accordance with Rule 69.1, which states in part, “Goals should be disallowed only if: (1) an attacking player, either by his positioning or by contact, impairs the goalkeeper’s ability to move freely within his crease or defend his goal.”
Sure, that was a lousy break. That’s no excuse to fold.
Philadelphia is in town on Tuesday. Time’s a’wastin’.
“We’re not quitters in here, we never have been,” declared McDavid. “Losing three in a row off the bat is not ideal, but it is nothing we can’t work out of.”