It’s wild to think that we’re in late January and still in the hunt for the Oilers’ first three-game win streak of the season. I don’t know why they haven’t been able to do it, but it’s a story that came up once again ahead of Thursday’s matchup with the San Jose Sharks. This was Edmonton’s 10th attempt at putting a streak together, and I was hopeful that it would be the last time we had to talk about it. As it turns out, the Hockey Gords wanted to play a sneaky one on us as they threw a curveball into the mix early in the form of a three-goal deficit. What none of us expected at the time was that the Oilers would find a way to erase that hole with a magical 18-minute run of third period dominance. Final score: 4-3 Oilers in overtime.

After the disastrous start against Pittsburgh last week, I thought there was no way the Oilers could start a game that poorly again. In case you’ve blocked it from your memory, the Oilers gave up three goals in 37 against the Penguins, and basically wrapped up the game before it had even begun. While Thursday’s start was technically better than what we got against the Pens, giving up three in 11:40 to a divisional opponent to kick off the game is an international flight away from good enough. But what rang true once again was that the Oilers looked like they didn’t even know they were supposed to play. It looked like the 7 PM puck drop was more of a guideline than something they were supposed to follow.

Opening that poorly at home twice in the span of a week is completely unacceptable, and a total disregard for the people who spent a lot of money to be there. I know they’re not starting like shit on purpose, but it is baffling to see a veteran group look this disjointed early in games at this stage of the season. And to their credit, the Sharks took full advantage of Edmonton being slow to show up. They forced mistakes, capitalized on chances, and skated laps around a team that is supposed to be a Cup contender, but looked more like they were doing team shots of Nyquil before puck drop. We’re nearly 2/3 of the way through the season, and I cannot believe how many times we’ve talked about games feeling over before they had even begun. Amazingly, the Oilers overcame that dreadful start with one of the best third-period comebacks I’ve seen them pull off, but wouldn’t it be nice if we didn’t have to watch them drop turds in the punchbowl for the first 40 minutes?

If you are going to give up three goals in the first period and bum everyone out, you’d sure as hell be able to make things interesting down the stretch. And if there’s one thing the Oilers are good at these days, it’s making things interesting. You have to give the boys a pile of credit for the way they didn’t fold their hand when the game looked like it was tilting wildly in San Jose’s favour. You have to respect the way they kept chipping away at the Shark’s lead without quitting. That’s the kind of resilience you love to see from the group after almost letting another one slip away. That kind of third period press is also why it’s so frustrating to see this team look like they feel the need to spot their opponents a few freebies early on.

I mean, I literally shredded them for 300 words about not being ready to start on time, so it’s only fair to give them props for finding a way to pull off the unlikely. In the first period, I tweeted how I was glad to be watching the game from home so I could drink cheap beers and take my pants off, but as it turns out, I can only imagine how much fun it would have been to be at Rogers Place. That crowd was going bananas as the third period rollercoaster sped along and rolled into overtime and Zach Hyman’s eventual game-winner. If anything, the lesson on Thursday was that this team is never out, regardless of how things look early in the night. The good news is that I still hit the comeback bet despite being annoyed with our beloved heroes, and now their heroics will pay for my lunch. We get irrationally mad, and the Oilers come back to save the day. The system works.

In the second intermission, it was hard not to notice Craig MacTavish talking about how flat the Oilers looked after giving up three stinkers in the first period. MacT mentioned that it can be tough to get yourself back into the game after stinking up the place like that, and that it takes everyone in the lineup to make a comeback work. The conversation turned to the bottom six and how hard it is for those guys to keep their legs going if they never see the ice. The counter, of course, is that it’s not an easy call to throw those guys over the bench when they produce next to nothing when they’re out there. So what do you do? Go with the guys that pay the bills, or roll through four lines to keep everyone engaged and the vibes high?

That’s when I thought about what Derek Ryan said on Oilers Now about how it can be tough to be a bottom-sixer on a team with Connor and Leon. “They obviously have the two best players in the world, or two of the best players in the world…. It’s been hard the last five years that I’ve been around the team. Basically, they need to find a way to give these depth guys that aren’t Connor and Leon, that aren’t playing with them, a role, and a chance to be successful, [so they can] feel like they can contribute, feel like they can have a niche.” If finding a lane for the bottom six is something a former player and coach in the city are calling out, it makes you wonder how those low-minute guys are feeling in the room. But that’s when we get back to the chicken and the egg. That’s a tough one for Kris Knoblauch.

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