The Edmonton Oilers miserable slump continued Sunday afternoon with a 4-1 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks.
The Oilers are 1-5-1 in their last seven games and have been outscored 28-9 in that span.
“It’s not where we wanted to be,” Oilers forward Zack Kassian said. “It’s pretty simple. We can’t let frustration kick in as much as it is frustrating. Playing hockey frustrated doesn’t help anybody so we gotta keep our head above water here, stay upbeat. We’ve got a good game against Nashville coming that we need to win.”
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The Blackhawks put the Oilers in a hole when Nick Schmaltz and Alex DeBrincat scored 1:26 apart just before the midway point of the first period.
Darnell Nurse struck back for the Oilers early in the second period when his bad angle backhand shot eluded Chicago goalie Anton Forsberg. It was Nurse’s third goal of the season. Chicago restored its two-goal lead with only 9.2 seconds left in the session when Brandon Saad worked a puck past Cam Talbot.
Jordan Oesterle made it 4-1 halfway through the third, his second goal against the Oilers this season.
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After the game Head coach Todd McLellan spoke to the teams lack of confidence.
“You gotta work your way out of it and when you’re not at the top of your game you gotta be more detailed, you gotta be positioned and strong,” McLellan said. “As I mentioned on that third goal there’s a difference between when you’re confident you don’t always have to be over top of a puck, and when you’re not you gotta keep your nose over it, and you gotta get body position, and take an extra stride. I’m not saying the guys were cheating on that situation but you don’t take the easy way out, you work your way out. We’re gonna have to keep at it.”
In a search for offence, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl were reunited on a line with Patrick Maroon. The trio had some scoring chances but couldn’t find the net. Yohann Auvitu played at forward as an Oiler for the first time after 19 games as a defenceman.
The Oilers, 18-22-3, will visit Nashville on Tuesday.