The Oilers had another tough result in their second game with a loss to a rebuilding Blackhawks team, and Corey Perry had to call the team out.
In his postgame interview, Perry said the Oilers players need to look in the mirror before their game tonight against the Calgary Flames.
Perry said the results and lack of offence has been clearly frustrating, but the Oilers need to bear down and make the difficult plays to get the results they need. The points at the beginning of the season mean just as much as those at the end of the season, and the Oilers should be a team trying to lock in to home ice for the playoffs.
Connor McDavid even echoed a similar statement after just the first game. After a blowout and shutout loss in their home opener, the Oilers had a few days off to practice and regroup to have a bounce back against a weaker opponent. McDavid asked the Oilers leadership group to be ready to go for the game, and unfortunately they only tallied two goals.
There’s a bit of a tangible fear among Oilers fans that they could repeat the brutal 2-9-1 start they had last year, and that won’t really be avoided until the team actually strings some wins together.
The Oilers will have another prime opportunity against a much weaker Calgary Flames team tonight, but they’ll have the disadvantage of playing on a back to back – and the Flames have been off to a hot start. The Oilers will have Stuart Skinner back in net looking to get their elusive first win of the new year.