Oilers playing out the string on season that started with big expectations

Veteran left-winger Milan Lucic considered the question a moment. Would the Edmonton Oilers’ season have gone differently if the team had lost its opening game against the Calgary Flames?

“Could have been,” Lucic answered with a chuckle.

There hasn’t been much to smile about for the Oilers this year. Back in October, expectations were high with some hockey observers even predicting that Edmonton could battle for the Stanley Cup.

Heading into their game tonight against the Flames, the Oilers were 13th in the Western Conference standings with a 3438-6 record for 74 points.

Edmonton has four games left and will miss the playoffs.

“It hasn’t gone our way,” sighed captain Connor McDavid, a splash of colour in an otherwise dark Oilers picture. “We haven’t been good enough. That’s what it comes down to.”

The Oilers dropped a 2-1 decision to the Vancouver Canucks — another team out of the playoff picture — on Thursday night. It was Edmonton’s second consecutive loss after going 3-0-1 in their previous four games.

It’s hard to imagine any team’s season hinging on what happened in the first game, but head coach Todd McLellan traces some of the Oilers’ problems back to a 3-0 win over Calgary on opening night.

“We had concerns coming into the season that we would be forced to deal with high expectations, something the organization hadn’t dealt with for over a decade,” said McLellan. “I thought the training camp went off fairly well. The first game was very good against Calgary.

“I think at that point, that’s where we began to relax when we didn’t need to relax. We needed to push a little more. Once you begin to spiral it’s hard to come out of it.”

The Oilers followed that win with a four-game losing streak, dropping seven of their first 11 overall.