That was the case for the Edmonton Oil Kings Saturday night as they battled the Red Deer Rebels.

One small mistake on a first period goal, led to an avalanche, and the Oil Kings fell 5-0 to Red Deer, dropping their 15^th straight game

“We are a fragile team right now, there is no question about it,” said Oil Kings head coach Steve Pleau.

“We have guys trying to do too much, because they see what type of situation we are in and it’s affecting their game.”

Looking to rebound after losing 7-0 to the Tri-City Americans the night before, the Oil Kings came out in the first period and physically dominated Red Deer and that led to some quality scoring chances.

However, Rebels goaltender Kraymer Barnstable was able to weather the flurry of Oil Kings shots midway through the period and that sparked the Rebels.

Willie Coetzee scored twice and added an assist and Landon Ferraro, Nick Bell, Turner Elson would all add singles in the victory.

“There are some guys not buying in and until then, it’s going to continue to go this way,” said Oil Kings veteran defenceman Adrian Van de Mosselaer.

“The coaches are giving us enough liberty to make plays we want to make (offensively), but the guys are just too tentative right now.

“If guys make a mistake, you have to go out and play your next shift. You can’t keep fretting over what is going to happen next.”

Torrie Jung made his first start in eight days and looked sharp in the loss. He made 37 saves in the loss and made a few extra point blank saves to help bail the Oil Kings out on a couple of other chances.

Their power play looked very good in the late stages of the third period when they had a two-man advantage, but they hit two posts, and Barnstable robbed Garry Nunn on the door step on one of his 26 saves to preserve the shutout.

 At the end, we had a power play and we showed some skill and you could see the guys loosening up a little bit. We had some awesome chances and we just have to continue to learn to play like that,” said Van de Mosselaer.

“There are areas where guys can definitely use their skill. We definitely have it on this team, but we can’t play so tentative and be afraid of messing up.

“Going through a losing streak like this is tough on all of us, but we can’t continue to dwell on it. We have to work hard, but have fun and continue to battle each and every night.”

The Oil Kings will finish off their third straight three-game in three night weekend Sunday evening  (5 p.m.) when they return home to Rexall Place to face the Prince Albert Raiders.

It’s another Signature Sunday, so it’s another great opportunity to get an autograph from all your favourite Oil Kings players after the game.

For tickets call 780 414 GOAL or visit any Ticketmaster location or http://www.oilkings.ca/ for more information.