Edmonton Oilers coach Ken Hitchcock castigated his team after they lost 4-0 to the Los Angeles Kings Saturday for their seventh loss in eight games.

"We had one player show up and play," Hitchcock said. "Darnell Nurse was our best player by a mile ... and that's all we had. We didn't compete. Their best players were their best players. We didn't compete. This is on everybody. When you have one player that competes at a high level in a game like this, it can't be acceptable. There's been too much of this go on in the first 41 games. We win one, and then we take our foot off the gas, and that's exactly what we did."

The poor first period was a rerun for the Oilers, who also struggled early against Arizona on Wednesday before rallying to win.

"What has to change for us (is) we're a situation-motivated team," Hitchcock said. "I've only been here 20 games, and I see the situation motivates them. We lose, we get embarrassed, we get motivated, and that isn't a playoff team. That isn't a playoff attitude, and we have to change. But this can't be acceptable. ... I don't know what it is, but we'll figure it out."

Edmonton will be back in action Sunday in Anaheim against the Ducks.