Nurse sounds off on Oilers' slow starts after latest loss

Another slow start for the Edmonton Oilers wasn't their undoing against the Washington Capitals in Monday's 3-2 loss, but it certainly didn't help either.

The Oilers were outshot 22-12 in the opening frame, with Stuart Skinner turning aside all 22 in his eventual 47-save performance in the loss.

“We come in here and we talk about it every day,” Oilers defenceman Darnell Nurse said of his team’s starts. “We sit here after the game, talk about it over and over and over. … We want to have good starts each and every night but, you know, we're sitting here and it's a part of our game. We're almost a quarter of the way through the season.

“The more we just talk away and pester at it, we need to just show up and play. Relax, pin our ears back and come out on the on the attack.”

The Oilers were outshot 50-30 on Monday, including 19-7 in the second period, when Skinner allowed two goals.

"We weren't as quick and physical as we wanted to be in the defensive zone," Edmonton coach Jay Woodcroft said. "Our goalie stood tall. We're 2-2 going into the third period. We made a critical error, and it ended up in the back of our net."

Skinner Unfazed as Oilers Allow 50 Shots

Skinner, who has moved into the starting role ahead of Jack Campbell over the past month, saw his record drop to 7-6 on the season, with a .916 save percentage and a 2.93 goals-against average.

The 50 shots faced against the Capitals were a season high for Skinner, who said the early barrage helped put him the zone. 

"I think if you get a few [early] chances on you and make all the saves, it's a little bit of a confidence booster," Skinner said. "They got on the power play and I got a few shots on the power play, so after that I was ready to go."

The loss dropped the Oilers to 14-12-0 on the season as the team currently sits in the top wild-card spot in the Western Conference.