Oilers believe they can turn season around despite sluggish start

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.”