Connor McDavid Called Out For Lazy Play That Cost the Edmonton Oilers

The Oilers were barely holding on to a 1-0 lead after some disallowed goals, but still had the opportunity to push for the Oilers win. However, midway through the second period Flames defender Rasmus Andersson walked through the Oilers defence. Weak plays from Connor McDavid and Zach Hyman allowed the goal to happen, and it immediately sucked the life out of the Oilers squad.

Oilers reporter Mark Spector and many others called out McDavid for the subpar defensive effort on the goal. When this kind of play is coming from the players at the top of the team, it seeps throughout the entire lineup.

At practice the day before this game, Connor McDavid actually said to the media that the leaders of the group needed to show up ready to roll. McDavid notched one assist, but was a -2 on the night.

Despite their early season struggles even dating back to last year, hockey fans will have confidence that McDavid and the Oilers will bounce back and return to being the NHL's highest scoring team. However, these slow starts are beginning to look like a trend, and it will be difficult for the Oilers to be expected to pull out another 16 game win streak to get them back into the playoffs. Early this season, a few Oilers reporters suggested that the team taking it easy in preseason may have set them back in training compared to other teams.

They can't dig themselves another hole of 2-9-1, they need to shower up and get a win in their next game - and Connor McDavid needs to arrive with his first dominant game of the year.