NHL insiders believe Kris Knoblauch will consider ending long streak to send strong message to Oilers room

Coming off that disaster against the Sabres on Monday, the Oilers rolled into Washington hoping for one thing: to resemble a legitimate NHL team for once.

Going down 5-1 against a Sabres team missing half its roster of forwards didn't fill them with confidence, to say the least, so their tilt on Wednesday offered them a new opportunity to hit the reset button and restore some semblance of pride. It didn't go so well for them as they fell 7-4 to the Capitals.

One of Brett Kulak's classic traits is how dependable he is on Edmonton's blue line: his games have always provided smooth moments coupled with flexible playing time ever since his arrival in a trade. However, for this season, that aspect of his game is nowhere to be seen.

Instead, it is pure mayhem while defending his position down at centre ice, and one thing that personifies this is his overall minus-15 5-on-5 goal ratio for November.

Not once has his team scored while he is on ice, as his defence gets exploited constantly.

Some NHL insiders at Oilers Nation have already started discussing whether Knoblauch may consider sitting Kulak to sort himself out for a fresh start, even if it means breaking his iron-man streak.

While this isn't necessarily happening, it does go to show just how tough things have been for this team recently.

In his 22 games thus far, Kulak is averaging just under 18 minutes per night. Still, his underlying statistics point to the same ugly reality: 48% CF%, 45% xGF%, and 42% HDCF%.

No matter how one looks at it, his presence is clearly hurting his team rather than helping out.