Have the Oilers Bottomed Out?

For their sake, I hope so. After an 0-4 USA road trip that saw them get outscored by a final tally of 25-8, the hometown club and their Boy Wonder, Taylor Hall, completed one of the most dismal stretches of professional hockey this writer has ever seen.

The Tuesday night tilt in Carolina saw the team bombarded by a 1st period, 4 goal Hurricane outburst from which they never recovered. Though there was plenty of blame to go around, the youngsters simply were not ready to play and it showed. Blame the coach, blame the veteran leadership, blame whoever you want - the bottom line is that the 7-1 final score makes the game sound much closer than it actually was.

Thursday in Detroit was more of the same, as the Oilers dropped a 6-2 blowout to the veteran-laden Red Wings. To add insult to injury, Taylor Hall finished the game with a -3 rating, good for worst on the team (he finished the week as a -3 as well). Needless to say, his minutes were scaled back a bit as Coach Renney seemed to be sending his franchise player a message - sit on the bench until you understand your defensive responsibilities. I wouldn't hold my breath if I were him...

Friday night in New Jersey, the Oilers jumped out to a 3-1 lead over the defensive-minded Devils, only to cough it up and lose the game in OT, 4-3. Despite the loss, the 5-shot, 1 assist night was the highlight of young Taylor's week. That in itself should tell Oiler followers all they need to know about this team's (and this player's) current level of play.

And while today's matinee vs. the Rangers in New York should have inspired the boys to wrap up their road trip with a little dignity, they failed miserably yet again en route to an 8-2 loss. After carrying the play early, a quick flurry of Ranger tallies and a crushing hit by Ranger enforcer Sean Avery caused the Oilers' frustrations to bubble over, leading to a good old fashioned brawl (seen in video below) . So even if they got shellacked in 4 straight games, at least we can say Edmonton went down "swinging"...




All in all, a truly depressing week for Oiler fans everywhere. I say we all just move on and forget this ever happened. The club has two home contests this week - Wednesday vs. Chicago (again) and Friday vs. Phoenix, so let's look on the bright side...it can't get any worse!