The fear is gone: Once again, here come the Edmonton Oilers

There were two wins in the first six games, followed by four wins in the next 10 games. There was a 9-1 loss to Colorado and an 8-3 home-ice humbling against Dallas.

There was goaltending concern, followed by a goalie trade, followed by more goaltending concern. They remain one of the few teams in the NHL that has yet to win three games in a row.

And Connor McDavid even looked kind of mortal for a while there.

Despite all of that, through all the fear and loathing of the Edmonton Oilers’ first 38 games, here they are at the Christmas break — tied for first in the division, rocking one of the best power play percentages the NHL has ever seen, with McDavid on pace for the second-best season of his career.

In other words, the usual.

Just when it looked like this would be the year they don’t recover from another bad start, that the physical and mental fatigue from two failed Stanley Cup runs finally catches up with them, they are making another charge.

What happened? How did they go from a lifeless defensive mess to 9-3-1 in their last 13?

“Guys are just playing better, ultimately,” said McDavid, who is leading the way with 31 points in the last 11 games, capped by a five-assist night in a 5-1 win over the Calgary Flames.

“When teams are struggling, everyone looks around for answers and points to one thing or the other, but it comes down to individual play from everybody.

“I thought collectively, as a group, our game has gotten better and better as the season’s gone on, especially the last couple of weeks, the last month. That’s the biggest thing.”

Just as many elements factored into the recovery as factored into the slow start, but the players at the heart of it say it all boils down to willingness and determination.

“We demand to be a playoff team,” said Leon Draisaitl, whose hat-trick against Calgary gives him 24 points in the last 11 games. “When you start the season the way we did, nobody is happy, nobody likes it. We knew we could be better and have a lot better in here. Everyone just stepped up. Now we’re rolling a little better and obviously looking to continue that.”

There are no excuses in pro sports, but there are reasons why teams struggle and sink. The Oilers had a few of them this year, starting with a ridiculously bad schedule (16 of their first 24 games on the road).

They had a five-game trip in October, flew home for one game and headed back out on the road. They had a seven-game trip in November, flew home for one game and headed back out on the road.

All of their eastern road trips were completed in the first two and a half months of the season.

And then there were the injuries. The Oilers are a top-heavy team that relies almost entirely on its top six and its power play. So Zach Hyman missing the first 20 games of the year, then Ryan Nugent-Hopkins missing nine games, then Jack Roslovic missing 11 games meant their biggest weapon was always missing some bullets.

The last two games were the first time all season that they had their full top six. They went up 4-1 on Vegas until the Golden Knights made it close in the third period and they stomped the Flames 5-1 in a game that could have easily been 9-1. They looked as formidable in those two outings as they have all year.

“That’s a big part of it, too, we’re healthier,” said McDavid. “We’re still missing a couple of guys (Kasperi Kapanen, Jake Walman, Tristan Jarry), but we’re healthier. Hyman is in there and playing well, Nuge is doing his thing. We got Rosie back, and guys are feeling good, healthy. There is a lot to like.”

And now the schedule works in their favour. They’ll be sitting at home for the next five weeks with an opportunity to feast on road-weary visitors. January sees the Oilers play 11 home games and four road games (two of them one-game trips to Vancouver and Winnipeg).

This is when they intend to hit full stride.

“It’s a great opportunity for our group,” said McDavid. “Home for most of January, we don’t go east again. We’ve gotten a lot of tough trips out of the way. We’re healthy and we’re only getting healthier. We get some time off during the (Christmas) break.

“I like where our group can go. This is a big month for us coming up. We have to take advantage of this schedule at home and make a push.”

The first stern test will be Saturday night in Calgary, where the Flames will be snorting mad and out for vengeance after being embarrassed before Christmas.

Ryan Lomberg and Adam Klapka were taking numbers and sending messages at the end of that game, so expect more of the same in the Saddledome.

E-mail: rtychkowski@postmedia.com