Oilers believe they can turn season around despite sluggish start

The Edmonton Oilers hit what felt like rock bottom on Thursday with a 3-2 loss at the San Jose Sharks.

The defeat dropped Edmonton, a preseason pick by many to win the Stanley Cup, into a last-place tie in points in the NHL with the Sharks.

But the Oilers said they still believe they can turn things around and fulfill their high expectations this season despite a 2-9-1 start.

"When you go through tough stretches, the easiest thing would be to quit on each other, but that's not what this group is about," forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said. "Unfortunately, we've gone through this before in the past and we've found ways out at different points of the season. At the start of the season, it feels a little different, but regardless, we've been through it before and we can claw our way out of this."

The Oilers have lost four in a row and eight of their past nine (1-7-1) and along with the Sharks (2-10-1) have an NHL-low five points. Edmonton concludes a three-game road trip against the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena on Saturday (10 p.m. ET; ROOT-NW, TVAS2, CITY, SN, CBC).

With the losses have come several questions the Oilers haven't been able to answer.

"I don't really know what to say, we tend to outshoot other teams consistently, probably outchance other teams consistently, and it's just not in sync right now, it's disappointing," forward Leon Draisaitl said. "Last year, everything seemed to be going our way, this year, obviously, it's not going our way. We just have to continue to work at it."

For the second game in a row, the Oilers outshot their opponent by a wide margin, but had little show for it. Against the Sharks, who hadn't won a game this season until Tuesday, the Oilers outshot them 41-18, including 17-4 in the third period, but managed to score two goals, one of which came with goalie Stuart Skinner pulled for an extra skater.

It was a similar scenario in a 6-2 loss at the Vancouver Canucks on Monday. The Oilers outshot the Canucks 21-8 in the first period but went into intermission down 3-1.

"I think it's a loss of confidence; we're battling through something together and we're working our [butts] off and we're not finding ways to score," Nugent-Hopkins said. "We're saying the right things, we're trying to get there (to the net) and trying to make it hard on goalies. It's not going in, and when there seems to be a breakdown (defensively), teams are capitalizing. It's not any individual's fault, but there is only one way through it, it's going to be together, and I believe in this group that we can find a way out for sure."

Scoring has surprisingly been an issue for the Oilers. Last season, they were the highest-scoring team in the League with 325 goals (3.96 per game) but so far have (2.58 per game), which is tied for the fourth lowest, ahead of the St. Louis Blues (28), Washington Capitals (22), and Sharks (17).

Oilers captain Connor McDavid did not have a point in the loss to San Jose and has not scored a goal in seven games. He missed two games after sustaining an upper-body injury on Oct. 21 in a 3-2 overtime loss against the Winnipeg Jets and may be still feeling the effects. He has 10 points (two goals, eight assists) in 10 games. Through 10 games last season, he had 22 points (11 goals, 11 assists).

Draisaitl and Nugent-Hopkins each have one goal in their past nine games.

"When you're gripping the stick a bit too tight, in general, that tends to happen, it's just the way it goes sometimes," said Draisaitl, who had 52 goals last season. "It's a tough league, guys play you hard. Obviously, there are not too many guys in this room that have confidence right now. I'm part of that group, so we just have to keep trying to get better every day."

Draisaitl has reached the 50-goal plateau three times in his previous nine seasons, but has five in 12 games, which would put him on pace for 34 this season.

"It just happens, I've had weeks before where it didn't go my way, this one seems a little more drastic because it's early on in the year," Draisaitl said. "But I've had stretches like this before, every player in the league has had stretches like this before. I'm not overly worried; the goals will come and if they don't, then you have to find different ways to score."

The scoring problems are reflective in Edmonton's power play. The Oilers had the best power play in NHL history last season, converting at 32.4 percent. Yet, with the same personnel this season, they are converting at 23.3 percent this season (10-for-43), tied for 10th in the NHL. They were 0-for-4 against San Jose.

Goaltending and defense have been issues, too. The Oilers have allowed 4.17 goals per game, second most in the NHL behind the Sharks (4.38). And this week, goalie Jack Campbell, who signed a five-year, $25 million contract with Edmonton last offseason, was sent to the American Hockey League. Stuart Skinner, a finalist for the Calder Trophy as NHL rookie of the year last season, has struggled, too, going 1-5-1 with a 3.87 goals-against average and an .854 save percentage.

"We have to do a much better job of securing two points," Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft said Thursday. "We've had moments, and we can be better for a full 60 minutes. We did a lot of good things, I didn't think anyone grew impatient, but in the end, some costly mistakes ended up in the back of our net. Right now, when you're not outscoring mistakes, you have to find a way to limit them."

Like his players, Woodcroft said he's focused on turning things around, not questions about his job status.

"No, I worry about taking care of my daily business and my daily process, and making sure that I give my players something to focus on and concentrate on," Woodcroft said. "No one's happy with where we're at. We all own it. We can better, and that's where my focus is."