'One-and-done-itis' has Oilers playoff hopes in critical condition

One-and-done-itis is a serious, often fatal disease that afflicts NHL teams slowly sinking towards the bottom of the standings.

Symptoms include intermittent lassitude, a sometimes shaky defence, occasional lapses on the back check and a chronically lethargic attack.

If the disease goes untreated, the prognosis is poor and the patient cannot expect to survive beyond the end of the regular season.

That's the diagnosis that faces the Edmonton Oilers after the team collapsed on Sunday at home with a 4-0 loss to the Detroit Red Wings.

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After 13 games, the 4-8-1 Oilers have established a troubling pattern that must change quickly or their playoff hopes will be dead before the end of the month.

With the team in a deep and dark place, each hard-gained win is like a shovelful of dirt that makes the pit easier to escape. But all four wins this season have been followed by losses.

"It just sucks that we have to start all over again," Oilers winger Milan Lucic said after Sunday's disappointing loss. "It's on all of us, the hole that we've dug ourselves. Eventually, you've got to start doing something about it, and kind of stop feeling sorry for yourselves."

Fresh off a 6-3 win against New Jersey on Friday, the Oilers faced adversity early in this one. Less than four minutes into the first period, Frans Nielsen deflected a point shot headed four feet wide that changed direction and wound up in the net.

The Red Wings led 2-0 just over nine minutes into the period, when the Oilers top line and bottom defence pair all suffered brain freeze in the defensive zone.

The play started as a routine three-on-three. When the puck skidded behind the Oilers' net, defenceman Kris Russell tried to clear it. Instead, the puck slipped off his stick and wound up back in front, where Gustav Nyquist fired it home.

The Oilers top line was on the ice at the time. Connor McDavid was cruising near the net but didn't pick up his check. Line mates Leon Draisaitl and Patrick Maroon appeared to be already turning around to switch back to offence.

"I thought Detroit did a much better job of committing themselves to defending the important areas," Oilers coach Todd McLellan said. "On a couple of their opportunities, we were vacating the zone already. And that's not going to do it. You've got to defend first and score second, and we're not doing either."

The top line logged about 6:30 of ice time in the first period, five minutes in the second, and less than that in the third.

Asked about that ice time, McLellan said, "I didn't think they were having a real good night."

McDavid was asked for his reaction to the lack of ice time.

"It's not very much fun to sit on the bench," he said.

Oilers 1-6-1 when scored on first

Scoring first is almost mandatory for this team, which is now 1-6-1 when it gives up the first goal.

The Oilers scored twice in the first nine minutes Friday against the Devils. Though New Jersey tied the game in the second, the Oilers answered quickly and went on to win handily.

Down two early against Detroit, it was like watching a different team.

"They scored one early, then they get another one quick and I felt like that deflated a lot of our group," McLellan said.

Defenceman Oscar Klefbom summed it up well.

"We've got to find a way to stay in the game," he said. "Right now, we're just folding our cards too quickly."

Let's not dwell at length on the penalty kill, the league's worst, except to note that it surrendered another goal Sunday in the third period when the game was all-but over.

The Oilers are the lowest scoring team in the league, with 30 goals in 13 games. They now occupy 30th place in league standings, ahead of only Arizona.

At some point, perhaps pretty soon, it comes down to simple mathematics.

"You don't get to participate in late-April or early-May hockey if you're .333," McLellan said.

"You sure don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure that out. The effect of losses accumulating also plays on the mentality of the team and the belief system. We worked hard for two years to get it up, and now it's being tested. So we've got to put some performances together."

The Oilers now head out on the road for games against the Islanders, Rangers, Devils and Capitals. They would have to sweep the road trip just to get to .500.

Given the problems and the depth of the hole, that seems a tall order.