Wednesday was another night much like so many have been this season for the Edmonton Oilers.

They got down early, watching the Washington Capitals score twice in the first six minutes of the game, and all the Oilers could do was chase.

And much like other nights throughout this season, the Oilers found a way to score a couple of goals. They kept the game relatively tight until the final minute of the game, when two empty-net goals from Tom Wilson stretched it to a 7-4 Capitals win.

“I think we just let too many goals and we were battling from behind right from the start, so (it) took a lot of energy,” said winger David Tomášek, whose early third-period goal was the first from a bottom-six Oiler since October 28th, the first in 22 days.

It paints a picture of just where the Oilers are at. Sure, they got back into the game as Darnell Nurse scored a pair, Tomášek had his goal, and Leon Draisaitl added one the on the penalty kill, but the Oilers just can’t get out of their own way.

The goaltending issues for the Oilers haven’t stopped, with Stuart Skinner giving up five goals against on 19 shots, for a .737 save percentage and a -2.46 goals saved above expected, according to Evolving Hockey.

“It’s tough to win games when you’re giving up five,” said Nurse after the loss.

The push from the Oilers was undoubtedly good to see, but it was too little, too late. Once the Capitals gained a lead, the Oilers never seized it back, now falling to 3-8-2 when opposing teams score first this season.

It’s the 13th time this season the opposition has scored before the Oilers do, the second-worst mark in the league, which has forced the Oilers to play from behind in 59 percent of their games, compared to 47.6 percent last season.

What’s plaguing the Oilers? The same thing it has all season long.

“Just the commitment to protecting the dangerous ice,” said Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch. You look at the first goal against, we got a lot of guys out of position on that and we get beat to the dangerous ice.

“We don’t give Stu much help, and you look at these nights where Stu’s given up a lot of goals and you’re thinking, you know, ‘it’s on goaltending,’ but we’re not making the game easy for him.”

On one hand Knoblauch is right, as the Oilers are giving up more high-danger scoring chances against than they would want to. According to Natural Stat Trick, their 10.33 per hour in all situations is right around middle of the pack in the NHL, but their high-danger goals against per hour rate of 1.79 is third worst in the league, and their .724 high-danger save percentage is the worst in the league, well off the league average mark of .806.

On the other hand, Knoblauch is wrong, as Edmonton’s netminders aren’t doing well enough on those high-danger chances, though Skinner’s .776 high-danger save percentage is much closer to the league average mark than Calvin Pickard’s .644.

But for as much as the Oilers need to do a better job of defending, they need to do a better job of getting ahead in games.

Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s associate editor, senior columnist, and The Nation Network’s news director. He also makes up one-half of the Daily Faceoff DFS Hockey Report. He can be followed on X at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach.laing@bettercollective.com.