It was most certainly a slip given the level-headed approach we have come to expect from Edmonton Oilers’ coach Jay Woodcroft, but he said exactly what many fans were thinking after a heartless no-show in a 4-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers Thursday.

Fresh from a 6-1 win in Nashville Tuesday, it wasn’t a reach to believe the Oilers had put two losses to the Vancouver Canucks in the rear-view mirror and were ready to get rolling, but it wasn’t to be against the Flyers. The Oilers were the second-best team on the scoreboard for the third time in four games.

While the Oilers likely deserved a better fate in one of the two losses to the Canucks, they weren’t close to good enough by any measure on this night and the usually composed Woodcroft told reporters exactly how he felt about that in the post-game scrum.

“F*cking not good enough, excuse my language,” Woodcroft said. “I thought our game lacked urgency. I didn’t see second and third efforts in all areas of the game, up and down our lineup. We know we have a standard to play toward. We’re falling short right now. It’s going to have to get fixed quickly here.”

Outshot 32-23 and outhustled at every turn by a Flyers team that hasn’t been picked by anybody to make the playoffs let alone be a Stanley Cup contender as is the case with the Oilers, you couldn’t find a lot of disagreement about Woodcroft’s take post-game.

“It’s just unacceptable,” Warren Foegele said. “It’s the NHL. You’re not going to win games just off of talent. It’s work first and then use your talent. Tonight, we simply didn’t work, and we didn’t even really use our talent. We didn’t really execute right. We’re stuck in our own end. A lot of turnovers. We need to help each other out there, and tonight we didn’t have a lot.

“We have high expectations as a group. We all came into camp a bit earlier set to work hard there. I just don’t have a great answer for you right now. Tonight was unacceptable and we need to do better.”

The Oilers had better figure out some of those answers soon. The truth is, it’s overdue. This collection of players should be well past the point of learning what it takes to be legitimate contenders – starting with a consistent level of work ethic and sweat equity — no matter what the level of talent. This effort was not that.

“I think we’re past that point,” Woodcroft told reporters. “I think sometimes younger teams at different life stages might feel that way if they have a bunch of skill and that they can go and earn two points just based on their skill level. I think at our life stage of our team, we should know better.”

F*cking right you are, coach. Right you are.