The Edmonton Oilers are talking about practice. And the game.

A 6-2 spanking at the hands of the Buffalo Sabres, in particular. And while the team was supposed to be off Monday after games Friday and Sunday, that's no longer the case:

Head coach Todd McLellan was very critical of his team after Sunday's game, saying the club "has some foundation and fabric things that we have to continue to fix. Stupidity is one of them."

The Oilers outshot the Sabres 33-24, but Cam Talbot had a game to forget, stopping only 17 shots. He even allowed a goal from center ice.

"We took (Sunday) off so we'll practice (Monday)," McLellan said, according to The Fourth Period's David Pagnotta.

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The Edmonton Oilers experienced their first taste of defeat in the young 2016-17 season on Sunday, a 6-2 drubbing at the hands of the Buffalo Sabres.

Nothing went right for Todd McLellan's club, the poor performance highlighted by a slapshot from center ice that fooled goaltender Cam Talbot, ultimately proving to be the game-winning goal.

Following the loss, McLellan didn't hold back his disappointment.

"We have some foundation and fabric things that we have to continue to fix. Stupidity is one of them," McLellan said postgame, according to Sportsnet's Mark Spector.

"We just got kicked right between the legs and we deserved it," he added.

The stupidity comment was directed at forward Benoit Pouliot, who was benched for the final two periods after committing two penalties, bringing him to a total of six minor infractions through only three games.

The underwhelming performance earned Oilers players an extra practice on Monday, which was originally scheduled to be an off day.

"We took tonight off so we'll practice tomorrow," McLellan said.

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EDMONTON, Alberta - Ryan O'Reilly had two goals and two assists and the Buffalo Sabres pounded the Edmonton Oilers 6-2 on Sunday night for their first victory of the season.

Brian Gionta also scored twice, and Kyle Okposo and Matt Moulson had Buffalo's other goals. Robin Lehner made 31 saves.

Benoit Pouliot and Milan Lucic scored for the Oilers, who had won back-to-back games before the loss.

Cam Talbot stopped 17 shots for Edmonton. Jonas Gustavsson relieved Talbot in the second period and stopped the only shot he faced before exiting with an injury about 10 minutes later.

Buffalo started the scoring 2:37 into the first period when Sam Reinhart made a nice feed across to Okposo and he beat Talbot for his first as a Sabre.

The Sabres went up 2-0 7:14 in. Okoposo made a great pass while on the power play to O'Reilly at the back door.

Edmonton got one back with 2:40 left in the opening frame when the rebound from Zack Kassian's shot went off the leg of a hard-charging Pouliot and past Lehner.

The Oilers tied the game with 1:00 left in the period when the big rebound from Leon Draisaitl's shot came out to Lucic, who scored his first goal as an Oiler and the 400th point of his career.

Buffalo got a freebie 3:53 into the second when O'Reilly took a shot just from Buffalo's side of center that Talbot badly misjudged and ended up tipping into his own net.

The Sabres restored their two-goal lead midway through the second when Gionta tipped in Johan Larsson's point shot, prompting Edmonton to bring in Gustavsson.

With Talbot back in net, the Sabres made it 5-2 just 37 seconds into the third. Gionta tucked a shot between Talbot's legs on Buffalo's 16th shot of the game.

The Sabres kept it coming with Moulson's power-play goal four minutes later.

NOTES: The Sabres were without a pair of big-name players up front with center Jack Eichel out an expected six to eight weeks with an ankle sprain and forward Evander Kane likely out several weeks with broken ribs. ... Buffalo did get a boost from the return of Okposo, as the free agent signing played his first game after missing their opener with a sore knee. Buffalo defenseman Dmitry Kulikov also made his debut.

Oilers: Host Carolina on Tuesday.

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The New York Islanders are on the board, and they can thank Josh Bailey.

Taking advantage of 3-on-3 real estate, the forward scored a beautiful overtime game-winning goal Sunday in the Islanders' home opener.

Bailey played a whopping 23:30 on the evening, and his goal was his first of the season.

The Anaheim Ducks remain winless, but the overtime loss means they've at least got a point.

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Toronto Maple Leafs supporters should send thank you cards to the Arizona Coyotes. At least Shane Doan thinks so.

Matthews' coming out party in his first NHL game Wednesday, when he scored four goals, has hockey folks out in Arizona walking with their heads a bit higher. The 18-year-old grew up in Scottsdale and attended Coyotes games as a child, which instilled in him a passion for the game.

"Hey, without the Coyotes playing here, Auston wouldn't be playing hockey," Arizona captain Doan told azcentral sports' Dan Bickley. "He'd be playing some other sports. But because the Coyotes were here, he wanted to play, he got the opportunity to play, and he's an amazing athlete."

Doan believes Matthews' profile is only going to be that much bigger because he now plays for the rebuilding Maple Leafs in Toronto. But that's a good thing, better for the sport, and better for grassroots hockey in Arizona.

"The center of hockey is in Toronto. They push it as hard as they can. If he played for us or in Florida and scored four goals, it would've been an incredible story. But to do it for Toronto? That's unbelievable, and it's a big boost to everything that's happening with hockey in Arizona."

Arizona has long been criticized as one of hockey's failed expansion ventures, but Doan believes a loyal fan base has developed in the desert over the years. And if one of the game's brightest stars is from Scottsdale, hockey's only going to grow in the area.

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Ugly.

Ryan O'Reilly proved once again Sunday that it's never a bad idea to put the puck on net, even if you're shooting from center ice.

The Buffalo Sabres forward scored his second of the game and season using an offspeed pitch - you can score that one a passed ball on Edmonton Oilers goaltender Cam Talbot.

Talbot was pulled in the second period after allowing four goals on 15 shots, but was forced back into the crease with under a minute to go in the frame after an injury to backup Jonas Gustavsson.

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Philadelphia Flyers prospect Pascal Laberge has a concussion after he was the victim of a vicious headshot from Zachary Malatesta on Saturday. Agent Allan Walsh confirmed on Twitter that Laberge is concussed.

Laberge, 18, was drafted 36th overall at this year's NHL draft.

The QMJHL suspended Malatesta until further notice.

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Milan Lucic is on the board.

The hulking Edmonton Oilers winger earned his first goal with his new club Sunday, hammering home a rebound created by a strong shot from Leon Draisaitl.

The goal also earned Lucic his 400th career point, evening the contest at 2-2 in the process.

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First impressions are everything, and it didn't take long for Kyle Okposo to make a positive impact with his new club.

Making his season debut Sunday, the Buffalo Sabres' prized offseason acquisition scored on his first shot of the season, then followed that up with a gorgeous powerplay assist to provide an early 2-0 lead over the Edmonton Oilers.

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Boston, meet Cameron Hughes.

Hughes was drafted 165th overall in 2015, and is in his third season as a member of the University of Wisconsin Badgers.

That's only the 20-year-old's ninth goal at the NCAA level, but there's clearly some magic in that stick.

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