McDavid: Oilers caused their ‘death by a thousand cuts’ in loss to Preds

Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid attributed the team’s 5-2 loss to the Nashville Predators on Saturday to a plethora of unforced errors.

“(I) thought we had a good start and then just (made) mental mistakes that just keep costing us over and over again, making us chase the game, and it’s hard to chase games in this league,” McDavid said postgame.

“It’s just death by a thousand cuts,” the reigning Hart Trophy winner added when asked to identify the most frustrating part of the Oilers’ struggles. “That’s what it feels like … it kind of just snowballs.”

McDavid said he feels fully healthy after returning to the lineup for the Heritage Classic on Sunday following a two-game absence. The superstar also lamented that Edmonton has dug itself into a 2-7-1 hole to start this season.

“Last year, we get off to a 7-3 start, then we go 3-7. … We’ve obviously started with the latter there, (so) these next 10 games are big for our group,” he said.

The Oilers outshot the Predators 35-34 on Saturday. However, Nashville outscored Edmonton 3-1 in the second period, which ended up being the difference in the game.

McDavid collected a lone point by way of a secondary assist on the Oilers’ second-period marker by Zach Hyman. Predators forward Ryan O’Reilly capped off a hat trick in the third period to put the contest out of reach.

Things won’t get much easier for Edmonton in the club’s immediate future. The Oilers will travel to face the surprisingly strong Vancouver Canucks (7-2-1) on Monday before getting to face the historically awful San Jose Sharks in California on Thursday.