Edmonton Oilers swing and miss at league-leading Dallas Stars

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It was as short as it was modest.

And, yes, after starting out 0-3, you can bet the Edmonton Oilers were counting their previous two wins as a streak.

But they discovered 66 million reasons why they wouldn’t be bringing it with them back from American Airlines Center following a 4-1 loss to the Dallas Stars on Saturday.

Fresh off an eight-year contract extension worth $8.25 million a season, Stars goalie Jake Oettinger handily held the fort against the Oilers.

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You could call the performance a bit of brilliance given how hard the Oilers took it to their opponents over the first two periods. Make that 39-and-a-half minutes before Dallas took a lead they would not relinquish.

But considering the offensive woes Connor McDavid & Co. have been exhibiting in a steadily growing sample size now half a dozen games in the making, it kind of just looked like more of the same for the once high-octane Oilers.

But they came into this one looking much more inspired.

It was the first meeting between the two teams since the Oilers punched their ticket to the Stanley Cup Final in the spring, defeating the Stars 4-2 for the Western Conference banner.

And it had the feeling of rematch written all over it. Almost as if the Oilers could wipe the slate clean by defeating the 4-1 — make that a league-best 5-1 now — Stars by picking up where they left off during that near-miraculous playoff run … instead of whatever it is they have been doing to start the season anew.

Instead, Edmonton fell to a paltry 2-4 on the year. The meagre win streak was a blip on the radar that came against the Philadelphia Flyers and Nashville Predators. Two teams at the bottom of the standings in their respective divisions, with just one win and three points between them over nine combined games so far.

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And one of those points was even surrendered by the Oilers on the way to overtime.

Not exactly a confidence-building foundation from which to launch another run up the standings. But, hey, at least the Oilers aren’t one of four divisional basement dwellers right now.

And honestly, they already got the same number of wins as of mid-October as they earned on the way to an atrocious 2-9-1 start that got Jay Woodcroft fired as head coach in mid-November of last season.

So, things could always be worse. Right?

And we know this core Oilers squad can bounce back. We witnessed it both in the regular season and at least twice in the playoffs, including after falling behind 3-0 to the Florida Panthers in a Cup series that could have easily been over almost as soon as it began.

The question is, how big of a hole will they need to dig themselves out of this time?

Following Saturday’s loss, the Oilers were one of eight teams tied for 20th in the league and were tied for 23rd in goals for and 30th in goals against. Their special teams, their bread and butter not so long ago, might as well be non-existent at the moment.

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They lead the league in face-off wins (57 per cent) and sit sixth overall with 32 shots per game and third overall averaging 25 shots against.

McDavid leads the team at a point-per-game clip, despite having just one goal so far.

But that’s a far cry better than his linemate Zach Hyman, who has yet to record a single point after coming off the first 50-goal season of his career.

And it wasn’t for lack of effort in his last go-round.

“We just couldn’t capitalize,” said Hyman, who isn’t the only one struggling offensively but is easily the biggest sore thumb sticking out of the stats sheet. “We had a lot of chances, a lot of looks but weren’t able to beat him until the 6-on-5.”

Indeed, the Oilers managed to spoil Oettinger’s bid for a 12th career shutout, but it took emptying their net for the man advantage before Leon Draisaitl scored his team-leading third of the season.

But with 57:38 off the clock by then, it was nothing more than too little, too late.

“Let’s be honest, Jake was our best player,” said Stars head coach Pete DeBoer. “But you need that and that’s why we’re paying him what we’re going to pay him and then we got our legs as the game went on.”

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If Saturday proved anything, it’s that a two-thirds effort is not going to get it done, especially against a team already obviously bidding for another deep playoff run.

The good news is the Oilers return to Rogers Place this week for a pair of games against a couple of middling opponents in the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday (7 p.m., Sportsnet) and the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday (7 p.m., Sportsnet).

Though up to this point, it might be a stretch to assume it’s good.

[email protected]

@GerryModdejonge

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