The streak that won't happen is jeopardizing the Edmonton Oilers' push

This season has turned into the same annoying loop, two wins, one stumble, then start over.

In the Pacific Division, that rhythm is dangerous, because the gap between home ice and the wild card can swing in a week.

When you never stack three, every hot night gets erased by the next flat one, and the standings stay tight.

Saturday and Sunday felt like the breakthrough, a 6-0 win in Vancouver, then a 5-0 shutout at home, real swagger.

Tuesday at Rogers Place was supposed to be the payoff, Tristan Jarry's first home start, Curtis Lazar's 600th NHL game, and a chance to finally nail win number three.

The clip that kicked this whole conversation back up is here

Instead, the New Jersey Devils squeezed out a 2-1 win, and the Oilers were right back in that familiar spot, talking about «next time.»

That is the part that should scare people, not the one loss, but how often the third step turns into a faceplant.

A team with Edmonton's top-six talent should be able to bully the middle of the schedule, yet the momentum keeps leaking away.

Some nights it is sloppy breakouts, other nights it is a sleepy first period, and sometimes it is one bad penalty that flips a tight game.

You can feel the fanbase getting jumpy, because it's hard to trust a contender that can't turn a heater into a real run.

This is where the «between the ears» stuff matters, because good teams treat the third win like a habit, not a milestone.

The roster has tried to patch things with depth, and it has helped, but depth goals do not fix careless shifts in your own end.

Jarry has been solid in his first five starts for Edmonton, 4 wins, 2.58 GAA, .907 SV%, and the goalie rotation has steadied the room.

The Oilers even had Leon Draisaitl away for family reasons, and still got enough scoring to win two straight before the Devils game.

Vasily Podkolzin has chipped in too, 12 goals and 11 assists in 50 games, and that kind of middle-six push is exactly what you need in January.

But the problem is the bigger picture, if the Oilers keep living in two-game bursts, the division lead stays out of reach and the playoff cushion never shows up.

Thursday against the Pittsburgh Penguins feels like another litmus test, not for one night, but for whether this group can finally string the week together.