After a big win in Carolina on Saturday to snap their losing streak, the Edmonton Oilers were back at Rogers Place for the first time since February 7th with the hopes of continuing their success over the Anaheim Ducks. Unfortunately, the complete opposite of that happened. Instead of winning a second straight game and getting a streak going, the Oilers lost their sixth game in the last seven tries after an abysmal end to the first period set the tone for a 6-2 loss.

Did anyone leave the couch to grab a beer and return only to see the Oilers down by a field goal? That’s essentially what happened to close out the first period after having what was one of the better starts to a game in recent memory. I have no idea how shit went sideways so quickly and so badly, but the Oilers went from being a good spot to start the game to picking up their pooh-stained gonch off the ice in a matter of a few shifts. If that first period collapse weren’t so annoying, it would have almost been hilarious.

The Anaheim Ducks scored four goals in a span of only 6:41 to wrap up the first period, which was as angering as it was awful to watch. Outside of Mikko Koskinen allowing four goals on the first four shots of a game, I don’t know that I can remember another instance when the Oilers gave up four goals that quickly. It was a pretty shocking display of incompetence, to say the least. How we went from watching Edmonton play with urgency against Carolina to mailing it in defensively in their first game back home is something that I didn’t see coming. It felt very much like one of those “I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed” moments.

After giving up four goals to wrap up the first period, I was expecting a lot more pushback from the Oilers than what we got from them. That’s not to say that the boys didn’t manufacture some chances — they absolutely did — but they didn’t crank up the give-a-shit meter nearly as much as we needed. Even if the comeback was out of the question, I wanted to see somebody get angry. I wanted to see some emotion from a bench that has too often looked lifeless since coming back from the break, and that’s unacceptable for a team that’s expected to do better.

As much as I loved seeing Connor McDavid get back in the goal column, the game was well out of reach by the time he scored, and it was almost like putting lipstick on a pig. The fight was over, and all that was left to do was ride out the clock. If that’s not a disappointing state of affairs for a Stanley Cup contender with only 20 games left in the season, then I don’t know what is. On a different angle, if you’re Stan Bowman, I don’t know how you watch a game like that and think another depth player will be enough to solve the problem.

Leon Draisaitl has at least a goal in eight of his last night games. Think about how ridiculous that is for a minute. The guy has one of the most incredible heaters going that I’ve ever seen, and I hope he never ever walks away from the table. Now with 45 goals on the year, Draisaitl going supernova is one of the coolest stories from this season, and while I’m tempted to say this is the best he’s ever looked, I also won’t be surprised if he somehow gets even better down the stretch. Either way, Draisaitl needs to be getting more buzz for the Hart Trophy outside of this market.

No disrespect to Nathan MacKinnon, Connor Hellebuyck, or whoever else is the soup du jour of Hart Trophy candidates, but it’s hard to argue that Leon Draisaitl isn’t the most valuable player to his team. He produced nearly half of the Oilers’ offence during their losing streak, and I can only imagine the horrors of last week had it not been for Draisaitl trying to lift as much of those issues by himself. No matter how grim the Oilers have looked at any point, Draisaitl has been a shining star for this hockey team, and it’s been a real pleasure to watch him do his thing.

1. After what felt like a thousand years, the Edmonton Oilers were back at Rogers Place for their first game on home ice since February 7th when they played (and lost to) the Avalanche. Unfortunately, Edmonton dropped a turd on the ice so fowl it’s amazing the building didn’t clear out earlier than it did.

2. Make it six losses in the Oilers’ last seven games and four straight losses at home. Not ideal.

3. At least Connor McDavid snapped his goalless drought? Small victories, friends.

4. If I’m looking for other silver linings, it would have to be that the Oilers’ power play went a perfect 2/2 for the first time in forever. If we’re going to get out of this tailspin, I’m thinking a successful power play will be a big part of that turnaround. At the other end of the rink, the penalty was also perfect and killed off both shorthanded situations they faced.

5. Calvin Pickard got the start against the Ducks after a strong performance against the Hurricanes but got the hook after allowing four goals on 11 shots to wrap up the first period. Many were happy to see Pickard get a second straight start only to have our metaphorical shins kicked with disaster. Stuart Skinner entered the game in relief and didn’t fare much better, allowing two goals on 16 shots.

6. I know +/- isn’t anyone’s favourite stat anymore, but I thought it was interesting to see how many Oilers were battling for the green jacket on Tuesday night. On defence, Brett Kulak was -4, Darnell Nurse was -3, and both Evan Bouchard and Ty Emberson were -2. Up front, Leon Draisaitl and Matt Savoie were -4, and Viktor Arvidsson was -3. Plenty of golfers in contention heading into the weekend.

7. On the bright side, the Oilers won 55.4% of the faceoffs, so… that’s pretty good.

Get ready, hockey fans! The Daily Faceoff Deadline is happening on March 7th from 11 AM to 4 PM Eastern, and you won’t want to miss it. We’ll be LIVE, breaking down every trade and big move as it happens, with instant reactions and expert analysis from the Daily Faceoff crew. Plus, we’ve got special guests lined up throughout the show, offering exclusive insights from some of the biggest names in the game. From blockbuster trades to surprise moves, we’re covering it all. Tune in to the Daily Faceoff YouTube channel and follow Daily Faceoff socials on March 7th to catch all the action!