Todd McLellan didn't mention any players by name, but after the Edmonton Oilers capped a five-game road trip with a shutout loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday night, the Oilers coach did send a message to several members of his team.
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"When I look at this trip as a whole, we had some key, key people really underperform on the trip," McLellan told reporters, according to TSN's Frank Seravalli. "Significant minus numbers, not hitting the score sheet. It can’t always be (the top line) that provides that."
Edmonton's first unit has been very effective, but the second line has struggled lately. Jordan Eberle has three goals in 12 games since returning from injury, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was a minus-8 with no goals and a pair of assists on the road trip.
Nugent-Hopkins has 17 points in 24 contests, but he failed to record a shot on goal against the Maple Leafs and has an even-strength Corsi For percentage under 50, according to War-On-Ice.
The Oilers went 1-3-1 on the trip, scoring a single goal combined against the Maple Leafs and Carolina Hurricanes, who defeated Edmonton 4-1 in Raleigh last Wednesday.
"We're not where we need to be," McLellan said. "We've got work to do as a team, work to do as an organization to get bigger, stronger, harder, and physically win more battles than we lose."
It doesn't get any easier for the Oilers, who host the surging Boston Bruins on Wednesday and the Western Conference-leading Dallas Stars on Friday.