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Can the Edmonton Oilers get the down arrows to point up again? Can they do it as early as tonight against the Carolina Hurricanes?

Much depends on the play of the Top 4 d-men, who have generally been solid this year, if not super solid, but have suddenly started to fray in the past four games.

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Hockey is a game that is won and lost in the inner slot and the Oilers haven’t done so well there for the last four games, with the Top 4 d-men suddenly leaking scoring chances against by giving up too much gap, creating turnovers, missing assignments and losing battles.

Against Nashville, for example, Klefbom gave up way too much gap to the shooter Viktor Arvidsson on the first goal against, a play where a more aggressive defender would have got his stick on the puck. Instead Arvidsson had the time and space to set up for a monster slapshot from the right dot. On Nashville’s second goal, all kinds of Oilers players made mistakes, but Adam Larsson missed a big hit, causing panic in the ranks, then Klefbom failed to step up to block the two-on-one passing lane.