One step forward, two steps back.

After showing signs of life in their past three games, the Edmonton Oilers put up a dud against the Dallas Stars on Tuesday evening, falling 8-3.

Things started poorly for the Oilers, as the Stars opened the scoring four minutes into the game, courtesy of Jamie Benn’s goal. It went from bad to worse midway through the first period, as Roope Hintz scored a power play goal to make it 2-0. Then, Nathan Bastian scored with just under five minutes left in the first for a 3-0 lead. They weren’t done scoring yet, as Sam Steel chased Stuart Skinner with the Stars’ fourth goal in the first with just over a minute left in the period.

One of the lone bright spots in this game was Connor Clattenburg. Five minutes into the second period, the 20-year-old scored the first of his career, tapping in a rebound to make it 4-1. The Stars had a five-on-three with six minutes left, and they scored on the first power play, then the second to make it 6-1.

The game was basically over by this point, but Evan Bouchard was able to rip a puck past Jake Oettinger to continue his strong November. It was short-lived once again, as the Stars regained their five-goal lead thanks to Justin Hryckowian’s third goal of the season.

It took the Oilers 70 seconds to respond, thanks to Jack Roslovic’s 10th of the season. Connor McDavid rang the puck off the iron, and Roslovic had quick reaction time to fire it into the net. The Stars scored again, giving us the final score of 8-3.

I mean, what can you even say about that game? It always felt like the Oilers were going to dig themselves out of the hole after their tough starts in the past two seasons, but this season feels close to being too far to salvage.

One way to salvage that is by getting a goaltender. Sure, Stuart Skinner’s defence wasn’t good in front of him, as has been the case all season, but he can’t be allowing four goals on eight shots. Calvin Pickard was slightly better, allowing four goals on 22 shots.

Defence had an awful game, with the third pairing being the lone pairing that had a game that wasn’t awful. Evan Bouchard scored, but he and Mattias Ekholm struggled. As did Darnell Nurse and Alec Regula.

Offence wasn’t much better, aside from Connor Clattenburg. The Oilers’ rookie scored his first career goal, which is always great to see. Some say he isn’t ready for NHL action, but he’s had two strong games this season.

The Oilers have another sizable break before their next game, as they head to the home of Grunge to take on the Seattle Kraken on Saturday at 2:00 PM MT. Hopefully, that’s enough time to find a netminder.