Edmonton Oilers fans are still waiting for something to be thankful for this season.
Another notoriously slow start for their team is underway, with a 4-1 loss to the Calgary Flames at Rogers Place on Thanksgiving Sunday.
Prior to that, they looked like a bunch of hams giving away goals like free turkey dinners, having been outscored 11-2 in two losses to open the schedule and maintain a giant egg in the win column.
But, hey, at least they made a game of it until halfway through the third period. Right?
Small potatoes for a team in danger of starting out 0-4 for the first time since McDavid’s rookie season in 2015-16.
“We’re not off to a good start, obviously. There have been a couple of bad bounces with some of those goals not going our way, obviously. Ultimately it is just not good enough,” said McDavid, who has two assists in three games so far. “I’m sure there is lots of ways to explain it, but ultimately it hasn’t been good enough.
“I’ve said that numerous times here, up and down the lineup, myself first and foremost, everybody could be better and everybody will be better. We’re not quitters in here, we never have been. Losing three in a row off the bat is not ideal, but it is nothing we can’t work out of.”
Skinner the top gun
It took just 76 seconds for Jeff Skinner to prove his coaching staff right, looking like Johnny on the spot in front of the crease to wire a Mattias Ekholm slapshot past Dan Vladar for his first goal in Oilers colours.
The left-wing free-agent acquisition spent the previous two games bouncing up and down between the second and third lines, before getting his first opportunity to play next to Connor McDavid on Sunday.