On Thursday night, the Edmonton Oilers couldn’t buy themselves a goal.

They got shut out 1-0 by Ilya Sorokin and the New York Islanders as Connor McDavid’s 20-game point streak came to a screeching halt. There was no lack of chances, however, as the Oilers poured on 35 shots, but they just couldn’t bear down enough. Fast forward to Saturday night, and they couldn’t stop scoring, racking up six goals in the second period enroute to a 6-0 shutout.

Oilers fans know a bad team when they see one, and boy, do the Canucks stink. We’re talking full-on middle of the Decade of Darkness stink. With Nuge Week capping off tonight when he plays in his 1,000th NHL game, I’ve been thinking back to the Decade of Darkness, and just how good Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was on some terrible teams. These Canucks don’t even have that anymore, as Elias Pettersson doesn’t seem to be nearly as effective as he was years ago, Quinn Hughes has been traded, and the rest of the roster is filled with a bunch of guys.

In the Oilers’ first true tank year, 2009-10, they still had players who were enjoyable to watch. A young Andrew Cogliano, Sam Gagner and Gilbert Brule, who we were all convinced would be stars, a still young but also 26-year-old Ales Hemsky, the affable Nikolai Khabibulin, and Zack Stortini, who fought 17 dudes that year. These Canucks just seem sad.

But hey, at least that draft pick will be juicy.

It was, all things considered, a quiet first period. The Oilers outshot the Canucks 9-7, and Vancouver’s starting goaltender Nikita Tolopilo — who got the spot-start over an ill Kevin Lankinen — looked like he was going to goalie the Oilers. That uh… that didn’t last very long, as three minutes into the second period, Jack Roslovic opened the scoring with a backhander that slid through Tolopilo’s five-hole.

Then, three minutes later, Zach Hyman scored on the power play. Then Kasperi Kapanen scored, Roslovic scored a second, Kapanen scored his second, and Vasily Podkolzin added a sixth with four minutes left to go in the period.

All this, mind you, without Leon Draisaitl in the lineup, who took a leave of absence from the team to return to Germany due to an illness in his family. The lineup had some changes, as Vasily Podkolzin slid up alongside Connor McDavid and Hyman, Nugent-Hopkins centred the second line with Trent Frederic and Kapanen, Roslovic’s third line remained the same, and Andrew Mangiapane slid in alongside Mattias Janmark and Curtis Lazar on the fourth.

Boy, did things work. Roslovic and Kapanen ended up on hat-trick watch, and without Draisaitl on the top power play unit, Jake Walman slid into his spot. He did his best Draisaitl impersonation on the Oilers’ first power play, firing a one-timer from the office, but it didn’t find a way past Tolopilo.

For as much as the Oilers dominated that second period, the Canucks had some score effects come their way, as their shot totals increased to nine in the second, and 15 in the third. The Oilers knew they had this one wrapped up, and while it didn’t feel like Jarry was tested in a big way, he still stood tall stopping 31 shots. He saved 2.95 goals above expected, according to Evolving Hockey, too, which brings him up to 2.97 during his Oilers tenure. His save percentage has climbed to .906 and his goals against average dipped to 2.58.

The Oilers have a good problem on their hands with the three-headed goalie monster. Connor Ingram has been playing very well this season, posting a .907 save percentage, 2.49 goals against average and leading the league in quality start percentage, while Calvin Pickard’s season is turning around, posting a .911 save percentage in his last five games, allowing just 12 goals against.

That’s also going to make things tough when a decision has to be made. For now, though, they can keep this group rolling, as they’re expected to through the Olympic break, Sportsnet’s Mark Spector reported. Given what Edmonton invested in Jarry, and the fact he has two more years left on his contract paying him $5.375 million a year.

It’s undoubtedly going to be a difficult balance, as there’s a reason why teams don’t often carry three goaltenders: it’s tough to get them all in games. Despite Pickard’s strong performances as of late, he’s still the weakest of the three. To me, I wonder if they split the “starter’s games” 50/50 between Jarry and Ingram, and Pickard gets a start every two weeks or so. We’ll see how Kris Knoblauch and co. handle things, but Saturday, Pickard backed up Jarry, as the team kept Ingram in Edmonton.

Nonetheless, Edmonton kicks off an eight-game homestand tonight as the Oilers celebrate Nugent-Hopkins’ 1,000th NHL game.

Take $20 off your first Vivid Seats order of $200+ using promo code OILERSNATION (new customers only, $200 USD minimum before taxes & fees).