Oilers have 'pretty strong foundation' to deal with adversity

NEWARK, N.J. -- The Edmonton Oilers might be a victim of their own strength.

At least that's a conclusion coach Kris Knoblauch has drawn from watching the Oilers slog through a 3-6-0 stretch since the break for the 4 Nations Face-Off, a nine-game slump, if you will, that has knocked them out of first place in the Pacific Division.

"I think one of our strengths is also a weakness for us," Knoblauch said Wednesday after practice at Prudential Center. "We can handle adversity extremely well. No matter what happens we just go with it. You saw that last year in the playoffs many times. Down 3-0 to Florida. The Dallas series numerous times. Vancouver, two elimination games. I think we handled that really well. But on the flip side, when you're really good at handling adversity and you're calm often you're missing that switch to turn it on and, all right, we need to push a little bit harder. It's a fine line and right now I think we can push a little bit harder, be more ready for these games and playing a full 60 minutes."

The Oilers don't have to look far for why they have only three wins in nine games heading into their game against the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center on Thursday (7:30 p.m. ET; ESPN+, Disney+, HULU, SN).

Goal scoring is down from 3.31 in 55 games before the break to 2.78 in nine games since.

They've been behind in the second period in all six of their losses. It has led to them chasing leads, which brings them out of their defensive structure. It's a big reason why they've been outscored 25-14 after the first period.

Outside of Leon Draisaitl, who has an active 15-game point streak, the Oilers have top players underperforming relative to their expectations.

Connor McDavid has two goals and is a minus-8 since the break. Zach Hyman has five points (three goals, two assists). Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has four points (one goal, three assists). He has one goal in 15 games since Jan. 27.

"As a team, we've talked about it and we think it can be the best thing for us, going through something difficult and going through some adversity before the big stretch," said goalie Stuart Skinner, who is 2-4-0 with a 3.60 goals-against average and .876 save percentage in his past seven games. "This could be perfect for us, going through this, having to battle it out, a good time for us to come together as a team and figure things out, so when it does come again -- and it always does -- we know how to deal with it."

A year ago, Skinner's comments would have rung hollow, because at that point the Oilers didn't yet have the experience they went through in the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season.

Instead, all the Oilers knew was disappointment from their three previous seasons: getting swept in the first round in 2021 and the Western Conference Final in 2022 and losing in the Western Conference Second Round in 2023.

But they delivered in a big way last season, everything but a win in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Florida Panthers. They went on a run. They experienced success. It buoyed the belief they had, the belief they still have.

It's a big reason why the Oilers aren't worried now.

"I don't think you can ever really feel secure; confident I'd say is the word with our group and the potential of our group," Hyman said. "You've got to go out there and do it, and the more you win, the more you build that inner belief, but we have a pretty strong foundation."

The foundation has enabled the Oilers to focus more on how they're playing as opposed to the results they're getting.

For example, they don't like that they lost 3-2 to the Buffalo Sabres on Monday, but they were able to target the 34 shots on goal they generated against the 23 they allowed, the four shots they had that hit the post, and the fact that they came back twice from down a goal without sacrificing their defensive structure as positives in what was a regulation loss to a non-playoff team.

"A lot more process-oriented instead of worrying about the win-loss column or scoring," Nugent-Hopkins said. "It's about trusting that if we do the right things day in and day out it's going to pay off."

But then it goes back to Knoblauch's observation about the Oilers being a victim of their own strength. He talks about the need to flip the switch, and the uncertainty of how to do that when a team isn't shaken by losses.

He said now is the time to flip it. How will he know if they did? What will that look like?

"Mostly it's the guys on the bench being engaged, talking to each other, executing on the ice," Knoblauch said. "You can really tell with the body language, guys communicating on the bench. I think it starts there and it carries over to playing on the ice."

The Oilers know what that looks and feels like.

Getting it back before the playoffs begin is their challenge.

"You're in March now," Hyman said. "It's right around the corner."