Take Your Medicine

The fans don't deserve this, but the Oilers deserve every bit of it. #TakeYourMedicine #WeWant10

— Alan Hull (@alanhull) October 15, 2014

The Oilers made a highly controversial decision today, choosing to make Jeff Petry a healthy scratch for tonight’s game against the LA Kings. That, in combination with injuries to Jordan Eberle and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, cast a cloud of apprehension and dread throughout Oil Country as fans nervously anticipated the game against the defending Stanley Cup Champions.

Luckily for Jeff Petry, he was exempt from being on the ice for the carnage that ensued at the Staples Center.

First Period: Take Your Medicine

1:30 Anze Kopitar hits the outside of the post. The Oilers are having a tough time breaking out of their zone right off the bat, starting with the Bogdan Yakimov line and finishing with Leon Draisaitl’s.

1:50 Matt Hendricks and some guy fight. A big thanks to the two of them for stopping the game.

2:50 Darnell Nurse with a big hit on Slava Voynov in the neutral zone. Puts himself out of position, but he recovers.

3:06 Nail Yakupov whiffs on a loose puck on the half wall in the Oilers’ zone. Tyler Toffoli feeds Jeff Carter in the slot and the Kings go up 1-0. Justin Schultz and Benoit Pouliot are there, but neither can tie up Carter effectively.

4:21 Justin Williams scores off a nice cross-ice feed from Kopitar. 2-0 Kings. Here we go.

6:00 Sloppy play in the neutral zone. Oilers look like they’re passing on ODR ice. Kings still seem to be able to connect with their passes, though.

6:15 Pouliot in on a partial breakaway. He doesn’t get a great shot off as he’s checked from behind. He proceeds to take a cross-checking penalty behind the net. Oilers to the PK.

8:30 Pearson is called for a hook. Looked like Boyd Gordon might have gotten away with a high stick, but the replay shows he missed Pearson’s face with his stick. Oilers to the PP.

9:49 Tyler Toffoli dances into the Oilers zone like a circus bear. Hunt, though allegedly "up to speed," fails to keep up with him. He snipes one over Fasth’s shoulder and it’s 3-0 LA on a shorthanded goal.

13:00 Kings keep the Oilers pinned in their own zone for about a minute.

15:40 Scrivens comes in to replace Fasth, who appears to have a lower body injury.

Fasth pulled his groin. #Oilers Head Coach Dallas Eakins says a goalie is on his way, wouldn't say which.

— Chris Wescott (@TheChrisWescott) October 15, 2014

15:49 Yakimov with the Oilers’ best chance of the period on a rebound in the slot. Can’t find the net.

16:30 Carter nearly makes it 4-0 for the Kings off a nice feed from the point to the front of the net. Scrivens was there with the right pad. Pearson puts the rebound off the post.

Second Period: Is It Over?

1:00 The Kings have pinned the Yakimov line in the Oilers zone since the opening of the Period.

3:00 Nurse shows good patience getting the puck to Draisaitl who effectively breaks the Oilers out of their zone.

5:04 The Kings overpower the Oilers on the side wall and Dwight King takes the puck to the corner, dishes Dustin Brown to make it 4-0. Purcell was there but Brown had position on him.

5:29 Pearson strips Pouliot of the puck after Jeff Carter gets his stick on a breakout pass. Pearson puts it away. 5-0. The Kings are scoring at will.

7:30 Arcobello, Purcell and Hall nearly combine for a nifty goal on an odd man rush. Quick with a big stop on number four.

11:00 Hall and Arcobello go back in on a 2-on-1. Doughty gets a stick on Hall’s shot. At least this line is starting to come on a bit.

14:00 Dustin Brown lays out Hall in the NZ. Hall comes right back and creates a scoring chance.  The Kingston Cannonball keeps rolling.

15:00 Nikitin and Gordon collide in the Kings’ zone. Gordon looked dazed and confused after the crash. He heads off down the tunnel. The team is self-destructing.

16:15 Pouliot with a cute little feed to Draisaitl coming in on the rush. He puts a backhand off Quick’s head.

17:00 Nikita Nikitin fends off an LA 3-on-1.

18:00 It's starting to look like the Kings are trying to run the Oilers into the infirmary. Taylor Hall is seen cringing on the bench.

Third Period: What Did You Think Was Going To Happen?

Good news: Boyd Gordon, Taylor Hall and Nikita Nikitin are back on the bench to start the third. Bad news: it's still 5-0.

3:00 After three attempts to pass it up to his wingers on the breakout, Nurse elects to carry it out of the zone himself. He is successful, dumps it in and gets a change.

4:00 Draisaitl steals the puck at the Oilers blue line and takes it into the Kings zone. Twenty-nine makes a cerebral backhand feed to Pouliot coming in late and he gets a decent shot off.

5:30 Hall attacks the Kings zone aggressively and gets the puck to Arcobello, who is soon off to the box after catching Toffoli with a high stick.

6:00 Pearson gets a freebee in front of the Oilers net on the powerplay, putting the kings of 6-0. Nikitin is off wandering in the foggy woods on that play.

7:34 Joensuu to the box for holding in the offensive zone. That’s not a penalty he needs to take.

12:00 Perron circles the net and gets a hard shot off from the slot. Quick with the save.

13:30 Kopitar in on a clear breakaway. Scrivens kicks out the right pad to keep it out.

13:42 Voynov heads to the box and the Oilers look to break the goose egg on the power play.

17:00 Nice feed from Yakimov to Ference, who flubs it and then backhands the puck into the corner.

17:44 Draisaitl draws a phantom hooking call and the Oilers once again try to score on the PP.

19:30 Brad Hunt fires four consecutive shots on the Kings net, desperately trying to justify his place on an NHL roster.

19:40 Hendricks scores from a terrible angle, at bottom of the circle, off a Gordon face-off win.

It may come as a surprise, but the Oilers did manage to somehow come away with a 53.66 CF% at even strength, courtesy of War On Ice. Obviously, that's not good enough when you lose a game 6-1.

Will there be consequences following tonight's blowout loss in California? Will Eakins feel compelled to make smarter lineup choices? Is this the "rock bottom" the Oilers need to hit in order to turn it around before it's too late?

We all had an idea of how this game was going to look before it even started, but were we prepared for how it would feel to watch yet another Oilers season begin its probable descent into abject horror?

The Edmonton Oilers are perpetually trapped in a hell created by the Edmonton Oilers who are perpetually trapped in a hell created by the Ed

— Bruce Arthur (@bruce_arthur) October 15, 2014