For folks ragging on the Oilers' defense (which is awful to be sure), here is their record and the number of points they scored in each game:
10/11 Canucks Loss 2
10/14 Canucks Loss 3
10/17 Preds Win 8
10/19 Flyers Loss 1
10/21 Jets Loss (OT) 2
10/24 Wild Loss 4
10/26 Rangers Loss 0
10/29 Flames Win 5
11/2 Stars Loss 3
11/4 Preds Loss 2
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In five of their losses (i.e., half their games), the Oilers only put up 2 points or less, which simply isn't going to get it done. It was indeed curious to hear folks bag on the goalies and the defense against the Flyers (Oilers scored one) and Rangers (Oilers goose-egged).
The point being that the Oilers are constructed as a heavy-offense/light-defense team; they are built to out-score their opponents, and in the past few years that has worked reasonably well for them. What fell off the cliff this year hasn't been their defense, but the Oilers are simply no longer out-scoring their opponents as they are built to do.
Why?