A reason for optimism for the struggling Edmonton Oilers

Just when you thought the Edmonton Oilers’ season couldn’t get any worse, they lost 3-1 to the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night, a team that got off to one of the worst starts to an NHL season in nearly 80 years.

Plenty of fans and pundits are looking for the team to make a change either behind the bench or in the front office — or both.

On Friday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Frank Seravalli and Tyler Yaremchuk try to find a reason for optimism amid the Oilers’ 2-9-1 start.

Tyler Yaremchuk: Let’s start with our first topic of the day, and…yep, look at the bottom of the screen, “Over for the Oilers.” It certainly feels that way after a 3-1 loss to the San Jose Sharks.

Frank Seravalli: Oh come on! Thirteen games?

Tyler Yaremchuk: As someone who has a pretty good beat on the fanbase, I don’t think that’s an overreaction in their eyes.

Frank Seravalli: Well it is an overreaction! Look, between today (Friday) and last Monday when this road-trip began, it’s been two games. Two games don’t make or break an 82-game season. I’m not trying to inflate anyone’s tires here, it’s just a fact.

The Oilers look lost, there’s no question about that. There’s no real way to explain what we saw on Thursday night. They came out fine! Second game in a row they looked good to start the game. Then you had an hour-and-a-half stretch where they were in a coma, followed by a furious attempt to win but they run into a brick wall.

That’s a tough place to be. I don’t know what’s happening today, I know everyone is expecting some sort of coaching change, I don’t know if that’s the case, but it becomes a math problem because the Oilers are up against time. The way I see it, it’s a much larger runway then people might envision it. The Oilers need 36 points in their next 29 games. Can this team get to level ground — 41 points in 41 games — by the halfway mark?

You can watch the full episode here…