[jstubbs]

Not sure why they have played like bums the last three games, but something to consider is their on ice PDO. PDO is a stat that adds a team's SV% and SH% percentage. For the entire league, SV% + SH% will equal 1.00 because they're obviously the opposite of each other. Whenever a point is added to someone's SH%, the goalie score on will have a point taken off of their SV%.

Over the long run (as in a season or more), almost all team's PDO will hover around 100, with teams that are genuinely really good being slightly above, and teams that are truly awful are slightly below. For some reference numbers, the 1980s Oilers, considered to be some of the greatest team's to ever touch the ice, generally had around a 1.05 PDO for the season. Last years #1 team in the regular season, Washington Capitals, who went 55-19-8, had a PDO of 1.204 The 2016-17 Colorado Avalanche, who were one of the worst teams seen in the last while in the NHL with a record of 22-56-4, had a season PDO of 0.972.

Essentially, PDO is a good short term measure of puck luck. It's usually said that in the short run (~10-20 games or so), a team with a PDO below 0.98 is generally receiving poor puck luck or in a slump, and is usually bound to have their luck turn. A team with a PDO of 1.02 or higher is usually receiving insane puck luck and bound to regress and come back down to earth (Think of CBJ and their giant win streak, then mediocre remainder of the season). Of course, again, teams that are really good will have a higher PDO (like Washington), but for teams that aren't extremely good or extremely bad, it's a useful tool.

Four games into the season, the 2017-18 Oilers have a PDO of 0.951. Take out the 3-0 win over Calgary, and it's even lower. The team has an average SH% of 5.2% verses the league average of 9.5%. Yes, the team has had some poor effort periods and some downright ugly defensive plays, but they've also generated some really nice chances but just couldn't convert. Talbot has been way off his game as well.

That all said, there's no excuse. This team needs to figure its crap out and figure it out fast.