McDavid frustrated by Oilers’ struggles to begin season

The Oilers returned the majority of their roster after finishing second in the Pacific last season (50-23-9). That includes McDavid (153 points; 64 goals, 89 assists) and Leon Draisaitl (128 points; 52 goals, 76 assists), the top two scorers in the NHL last season. They lost in the Western Conference Second Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs to the eventual Cup champion Golden Knights.

Things have not gone as smoothly thus far this season. The Oilers are struggling defensively, giving up an average of 4.10 goals per game (third most in the NHL), but they are also only averaging 2.70 goals per game (tied for 23rd). Last season, Edmonton was the highest-scoring team in the NHL with 325 goals, an average of 3.96 per game.

McDavid had an assist in the loss to Nashville but has not scored a goal in his past five games. He missed two games with an upper-body injury sustained in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Oct. 21. The following day, the Oilers said McDavid would be out 1-2 weeks, but he returned in time to play in the Heritage Classic. He has 10 points (two goals, eight assists) in eight games this season and when asked if he was 100 percent healthy, simply responded, “Yepp.”

McDavid was also asked how he felt about his game.

“It certainly could be better, not at the level I expect myself to be at,” he said.

McDavid is not the only player struggling offensively. Draisaitl has 13 points (four goals, nine assists) in 10 games but has not scored a goal in his past seven.

Forward Mattias Janmark has missed the past three games with an upper-body injury but did not have a point in his first seven games. Forward Connor Brown did not have a point in his first nine games before sustaining a lower-body injury in the loss to Dallas, which kept him out against Nashville.

Forward Ryan McLeod had his first point in 10 games Saturday, an assist on Nurse’s power-play goal, and forward Dylan Holloway does not have a point in 10 games.

“We go into every game thinking we are going to win, so when it doesn’t happen, obviously you are not happy,” Oilers forward Zach Hyman said. “It seems like it is continuing to happen. It is not fun, we know how good we can be, and we know what is causing us to be in this spot. There is no magic pill, we just have to go out there and fix it. That is the frustrating part is that we have yet to fix those errors that continue to come up in our game. We have the recipe, we know what to do we just have to go out there and do it.”