Edmonton Oilers head coach Todd McLellan had one person in particular to blame for the 8-3 drubbing they suffered at the hands of the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday – himself. 

“That’s indefensible on my behalf. We’re responsible for having the team ready and obviously they weren’t,” he said following the loss, their third in a row.

The Oilers were outplayed on every inch of the ice Tuesday, a game that saw forwards Vladimir Taresenko, Brayden Schenn and Jaden Schwartz all record four points apiece.

“We were second in every facet… [I’m] very concerned obviously at the way some individuals played tonight. Many of them.”

Just like things didn’t end well for Edmonton Tuesday, they didn’t get off to much of a start either. The Oilers surrendered a goal on their first shot against for the second time in as many games. It didn’t take Cam Talbot long to let in another just two shots later, making it a quick evening for the 30-year-old.

McLellan noted that Talbot needs to play better, but indicated he didn’t get much help from his teammates.

“That’s as poor as I’ve seen that group of D play in my three years here and we’re supposed to be getting better back there,” McLellan said.

The Blues got two goals in each of the first two periods and then opened things up in the third, scoring four more.

“Let’s not kid ourselves, they were quicker to the puck, they executed better, they had us standing around and watching,” McLellan said.   

The good news for the Oilers is they won’t have to wait long to jump back into things. They will head to Little Caesars Arena in Detroit to take on the Red Wings on Wednesday.