Another vexing night for the Oilers in Las Vegas

When everyone looked at the schedule in October, they knew Edmonton versus Las Vegas in February was going to be a blowout.

And it was.

What they didn’t expect is an Oilers team picked by almost everyone to advance to the Western Conference final being hopelessly outclassed.

The Vegas Golden Knights didn’t just win Thursday at T-Mobile Arena, they exposed just how far back the hapless Oilers really are. The first-place team in the West used its speed, discipline, hunger and hustle to whip a 13th-place team that lacked all of the above in a humbling 4-1 lesson on how to play hockey.

The Oilers snuck out a couple of upsets over Vegas earlier in the year, one in overtime and one against a fourth-string goalie, but there was no way the Knights were going to let them make it three in a row.

It went exactly how you would expect it to go when overachievers face off against underachievers. One team had jump and energy, the other kind of hung around waiting for something to go their way.

As difficult as it is to comprehend, the Oilers have now been reduced to playing catch-up to an expansion team. The loss extended Edmonton’s slump to five games and further reinforced just how much work they have ahead of them this summer.

It was the typical first period for Edmonton. They came out reasonably well, but missed on their chances and could not convert a power play, then gave up the first goal (by Ryan Carpenter) for the eighth time in nine games to trail 1-0 after 20. In 56 games this season, they’ve led at the first intermission just 12 times.