DETROIT _ The last time the Detroit Red Wings met the Edmonton Oilers, it brought out the best in the Wings.
Wednesday was the opposite.
The Wings self-destructed in their Thanksgiving Eve performance at Little Caesars Arena, allowing the Oilers to skate and score. The Wings were dinged, 6-2, this after executing so outstandingly a few weeks ago in Edmonton in a 4-0 victory.
The Oilers were motivated by an embarrassing 8-3 loss Tuesday in St. Louis, but that doesn't explain the Wings getting three shots on net in the second period, why they let the Oilers get behind them with such ease. The Oilers scored three times in the second period, and after it got to 4-2, Petr Mrazek replaced Jimmy Howard in goal for the Red Wings.
Howard allowed four goals on 19 shots. Tomas Tatar and Niklas Kronwall scored in the first period.
Jesse Puljujarvi scored with a minute to go to finalize the humiliation.
The Henrik Zetterberg power-play unit made it 1-0 at 7:25 when Zetterberg fed Tatar in the right circle. Tatar slapped a rising puck into the net for his sixth goal of the season.
Darnell Nurse tied the game a minute after Tatar's goal, and the Oilers got a 2-1 lead at 11:05 when Patrick Maroon was left entirely alone, enabling him to get a pass from Leon Draisaitl, skate in and beat Howard.
Kronwall scored with 1:35 left in the first period, angling a shot through traffic from the bottom of the left circle. The puck went in off the far goalpost. It was Kronwall's second goal in as many games. The Wings outshot the Oilers 11-8 in the first period.
The Wings slogged through the second period, outshot 4-0 at one point and 7-2 at the midpoint. Jujhar Khaira put the Oilers ahead, 3-2, at 10:24 when he flipped in a shot from the slot. Wings forward Scott Wilson was hit by the puck the same shift, went to the locker room and did not return (it was announced as a lower-body injury). Mark Letestu made it 4-2 at 14:22 when he connected on a rebound while backing down Kronwall. By the time Drake Caggiula scored at 18:16, Mrazek was in net.
