The Oilers opened their home schedule on Tuesday night, and were embarrassed by the San Jose Sharks within 20 minutes. It was no contest, the Oilers were run out of their own building by a bigger, better, veteran Shark team.

1st Period: The Sharks had an early 5-on-3 PP chance, and converted on it. Dan Boyle scored just over three minutes into the game, beating Dubnyk with a slap-shot that took a bounce before going in. Logan Couture scored just over a minute later, pretty much taking all of the air out of the building.

Nail Yakupov would score his first NHL goal on the PP to bring Edmonton within one, but that would be as good as it got for the home side.

Just under two minutes after Yakupov scored, Patrick Marleau would score a goal, and then he would follow it up with a PP goal just 1:05 later, giving the Sharks a 4-1 lead.

Logan Couture and Marc Vlasic would score in the final two minutes of the period, putting the Sharks up 6-1. It was the worst period the Oilers have played in a long time, and it cost them two points. No other way to put it.

2nd Period: The Oilers were much, much, much better in the second period, and even fired 17 shots on net towards Niemi. The Oilers got a goal from Justin Schultz on the PP, his first career goal on a nice shot.

The Oilers had multiple other chances to cut the deficit, but were unable to find the back of the net. Yann Danis took over at the start of the period following Devan Dubnyk’s awful first. Danis stopped all nine shots against in the period.

The Sharks, well you could clearly tell they called off the dogs and were only going half-speed during the second and third. The game was well in hand here.

3rd Period: The Oil would see Taylor Hall rip home a beautiful goal to make it 6-3 just over three minutes into the period.

Jordan Eberle nearly connected on a backhand shot moments later, and the Oilers had a PP chance mid-way through the period, but were unable to convert. They outplayed the Sharks most of the third period, but again, it was clear that the Sharks were not going all out in the 3rd, and the two points were in hand.

My Thoughts: I won’t sugar-coat it, the Oilers sucked in the first period and that was the game. Six goals is simply unacceptable for any NHL team to give up.

The Oilers looked awful defensively, and left Devan Dubnyk out to dry. DD didn’t play very good himself, but it’s not all his fault. The defensive play was terrible, especially in a positional sense.

They tried too hard to put on a show, and in doing that the Oilers got away from what helped them win in Vancouver, a team game. It was embarrassing to watch, and no doubt embarrassing to play.

There were some positives. The PP scored two goals, Yakupov and Schultz got their first goals out of the way, and the Oilers, even after getting crushed in the first period, battled back and gave it an effort in periods two and three.

Overall, this was a bad night, and a bad game for the Oilers. Are the Oilers as bad as last night’s performance? No, not at all. There is no need for Oilers fans to panic, no matter how bad it was. This team will be fine, no need to over analyze or over react.

The Oilers will need to bounce back and put a solid effort in on Thursday night. This was just one game.

Edmonton Arena Deal Close?: Edmonton City Council and the Katz Group are met Wednesday in Edmonton. According to a report on TSN, city bureaucrats have recommended that Council accept a revised arena deal that would cost $601 M.

The Katz group has reportedly signed off on the deal, and it is now up to City Council to vote on and close this deal out.

City Council did vote on Wednesday, and voted in favor of the new and improved Edmonton arena deal. This is great news for the City and for the Oilers. The Oilers also committed to a 35 year lease in the city of Edmonton. According to mayor Stephen Mandel, the deal is 100% a done deal.

According to Dan Tencer, the sides need the promise of money from the Province of Alberta by August, and hope the shovels are in ground this coming August.

If everything goes according to plan, the arena will be open in time for the 2016-17 NHL season.

More on this as it comes in.

Are The Oilers Going For Luongo?: I mentioned this back in October, the Oilers were interested in Roberto Luongo. Now it looks like this rumor really has some legs.

TSN’s Bob McKenzie reported last night that the Oilers are interested in Luongo, and this isn’t the first time we have heard this from Bob.

Canucks GM Mike Gillis said over the weekend that the Canucks have a possible deal in place with a team no one expects, but it hinges on a player that the team already has. Could it be Edmonton?

According to Josh Rimer, it very well could be Edmonton. Rimer reported that the Oilers have offered Sam Gagner to the Canucks for Luongo, here is the tweet:

Just heard from a solid source that there is another Team in the Luongo Mix. Edmonton apparently has offered Sam Gagner, will Lou say yes?

My guess? The Oilers are interested, but it would require a 2nd asset to make this happen. I’m thinking the Oilers would also need to go and get a 2nd line center to replace Gagner. UFA Jason Arnott could be an option, as could a trade.

Devan Dubnyk would also need to be moved if Luongo comes to Edmonton.

This could get interesting, stay tuned and follow on twitter @BigcatThomas14