Defenseman Darnell Nurse was blunt in his assessment of the Edmonton Oilers' performance amid the team's abysmal 1-5-1 start to the season.

"We gotta be better, like to a man," Nurse said after Thursday's 3-0 shutout loss against the New York Rangers. "Simple as that. That's the dialogue. Everyone knows. It's easy to point fingers and whatnot. Everyone just look in the mirror at this point and do a whole lot f-----g better."

The Oilers' lone win came against the Nashville Predators on Oct. 17. They've since lost four straight games and are currently without superstar captain Connor McDavid, who's recovering from an upper-body injury sustained on Oct. 21.

Nurse also expressed frustration with the perception that the poor start was solely based on the defense and the team's new systems.

"I've been here for nine years, and it's always the D," Nurse said. "For us, we do have to be better. We can't be relying on our goaltenders to make five, six two-on-one saves a night. Can't be putting our partners and goalies in bad spots.

"But at the same point, there's six guys on the ice at all times, and we gotta be out there helping each other."

Head coach Jay Woodcroft backed the Oilers' change to a zone defense, box plus-one setup on Wednesday.

The Oilers were expected to be contenders atop the Pacific but are already 11 points behind the 7-0-0 Vegas Golden Knights for the top spot in the division.

Edmonton's next chance to turn their season around comes Sunday in the Heritage Classic at Commonwealth Stadium against their bitter rivals, the Calgary Flames, who are also struggling so far.