from Mark Spector of Sportsnet,

It’s broken in Edmonton. Smashed into a million pieces.

On Thursday night, the Oilers outplayed Florida for the entire opening period, but couldn’t buy a goal despite outshooting the Panthers 17-7. A couple of hours later, that “success” was but a distant memory, buried in a landslide of Florida goals.

Losers by a 6-0 score, the Oilers have now lost seven straight games and 13 of their past 15. This was yet another embarrassment, and truth be told, the group as it exists has not found a solution in weeks, putting up the worst record in the National Hockey League standings for a month and a half now.

This is not the worst team in the NHL. But it’s been playing like it for too long now.

So something has to change. Because as it exists today, this collection of players and coaches can not effect change by themselves.

They no longer have an answer.

Fire head coach Dave Tippett? It wouldn’t surprise us one bit if, for the first time in his career as a general manager, Ken Holland pulled the trigger on Friday.

The season is swirling down the drain, and the team isn’t getting any better. He can’t find a goalie, let alone one who can score on a nightly basis.

continued

Game highlights are below.