The Edmonton Oilers started the second half of the season like they started the first half — with a home loss.

With 40 games remaining, the Oilers, like most of their opponents, are still looking for some consistency. They’ve yet to win three games in a row, and if St. Louis wins in Chicago on Wednesday, Edmonton will be the only team without a three-game winning streak this season.

Their inability to play well and win for three consecutive games is concerning, and if they weren’t in the Turtle Division — A.K.A. the Pacific Division — Oilersnation would be much more concerned.

The Pacific Division has one team, Anaheim, that has won even half of its games played. The Ducks have won 21 of 41 games played.

Edmonton is lucky to be tied with Vegas for first place, although the Golden Knights have two games in hand, while Anaheim is one point behind Edmonton with a game in hand. The Oilers, despite their subpar play, are still in a great position to win the division. It’s wild.

Edmonton has had one solid 10-game stretch all season. Here’s a quick look at how they performed in 10-game sequences thus far:

4-4-2
5-3-2
4-4-2
7-3
0-2*

From December 11th to 29th they went 7-3 and outscored teams 36-26. In their first 30 games they were 13-11-6 and were outscored 104-99. They’ve started their fifth stretch of 10 games with two losses, both on home ice, and have been outscored 11-4. Just when it looked like they might be turning a corner, they blew a tire and crashed hard into the ditch.

Their biggest issue has been allowing goals against. Inconsistent goaltending combined with porous defensive coverage, horrific giveaways, unacceptable net-front coverage and too many lost battles has led to Edmonton sitting 29th in goals against/game at 3.36. The only teams worse all reside in the Turtle Division: Anaheim (3.56), San Jose (3.54) and Vancouver (3.46). Combine weak defensive teams, with plodding offensive teams and that’s why the Oilers are tied for the division lead.

The Turtle Division has teams either in the bottom third in goals against or goals for. Vegas is the only team that isn’t in the bottom third in either category, as it ranks 15th in both, which ranks them 14th in the NHL in points.

The Oilers are blessed to be in the weakest division in the NHL. It is why they have a realistic chance at home ice advantage, but even that isn’t guaranteed if they can’t find some consistency in their defensive play.

While many want to focus on “playing the kids more” or how Leon Draisaitl needs to play better, I believe that overlooks the MAIN issue: The Oilers’ defensive game is not good enough. Not close. Their defensive game has been as productive as Trent Frederic’s offensive game, yet the latter gets talked about more. It is easier to focus on one player, especially when they’ve been as unproductive as Frederic has, but the truth is, until the Oilers commit to playing better defensively, the losses will outnumber the victories.

You can pick any website you want, and the Oilers’ expected goals against five-on-five are not good. They are giving up too many quality chances. Those who felt Stuart Skinner was the main culprit have been proven incorrect, as the Oilers still give up too much. Yes, the goalies, including Skinner when he was here, need to make more saves, but the Oilers’ defensive environment looks as good as I did when I had to grow out my hair two years ago: not good, not good at all.

Yes, Draisaitl needs to play better. His recent play hasn’t been close to his standard with only two points in four games, but offence hasn’t been the main problem all season. Edmonton has allowed four-plus goals in five of its past 10 games, and only three times have they allowed two goals or fewer. On the season, they’ve allowed four-plus goals in 45.2 percent of their games (19 of 42). Last season, it was 30.4% (25 of 82), but this year they are leaking goals at a horrible rate.

Just look at last year to this year in terms of GA/60.

Vasily Podkolzin has the exact same number, while Ty Emberson has reduced his goals against significantly, but the rest are all up. The entire team needs to be better five-on-five in limiting quality chances and goals against. There needs to be more energy when defending. Defending is more about will than skill, and the Oilers need an injection of energy and commitment defensively.

— Kasperi Kapanen should make his return to the lineup tomorrow. When he does, look for them to send Quinn Hutson back to the AHL. Bakersfield plays in Abbotsford tomorrow, and I expect Hutson to play for them tomorrow.

— Jake Walman skated with the main group today and will make his return to the lineup next week. Kris Knoblauch said they are shooting for the road trip, which is two games in Chicago and Nashville next Monday and Tuesday. Walman has been out since blocking a shot in Tampa Bay in late November.

— Knoblauch said they hadn’t made an official decision on the lineup for tomorrow, but these were the lines they ran in practice Monday, and Mangiapane, Frederic and Stillman stayed out late after practice, which is often a sign they aren’t playing.

RNH-McDavid-Hyman
Podkolzin-Draisaitl-Kapanen
Howard-Henrique-Roslovic
Janmark-Lazar-Savoie
Frederic-Hutson-Mangiapane

— A name I keep hearing in trade talk is Jake DeBrusk. He has two more years on his NMC, so he has a some say in where he goes, if he gets traded. He’s a name to watch in the next few weeks. The Oilers and Canucks have made multiple trades recently, with Evander Kane going to Vancouver in one deal and Vasily Podkolzin coming to Edmonton in another. Neither side is afraid to make a deal within the division.