LAS VEGAS — When you’re trailing 3-1 in a series and facing elimination, there’s not much you can say if you’re the team on the wrong side of the ledger.

So we shouldn’t be surprised that the comments coming from the Vegas Golden Knights in the wake of their performance Monday in their 3-0 Game 4 loss to the Edmonton Oilers are simple and to the point.

“We have to win a hockey game,” said Jack Eichel.

Yep.

The question is, can they?

For the Knights to get back in this second-round Stanley Cup Playoffs series, they’re going to have to play a lot better. Sure, it’s nice that goaltender Adin Hill is showing a combative spirit. But his first job is to stop the puck and he has had a bit of a tough time doing that so far against the Oilers, who are getting contributions up and down their lineup as we saw with Adam Henrique’s pair of first-period goals Monday.

But it would also help Vegas’ cause to have the guys in front of their goalie play better, especially when the puck is behind the net. Too often in this series, the Knights are losing possession in back of the goal line, in the corners and along the boards. Yes, Brayden McNabb and Alex Pietrangelo are clearly less than 100 percent, but it’s a collective fail at this point by the defense. And when the forwards are unable to pick up an open Edmonton player in the slot, they’re guilty as well.

The Knights were clearly outplayed in every facet from the moment the puck was dropped in Game 4. Kris Knoblauch showed he can coach a little too as he broke up his top line of Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Corey Perry to spread the wealth and make his stars a little harder to defend. Meanwhile, the Oilers’ depth continued to generate chances and deliver while the defense around Stuart Skinner tightened up considerably.

Many believed there could be an emotional letdown by the Oilers in the wake of Reilly Smith’s last-second heroics in Game 3. Instead, the opposite effect resulted as Edmonton controlled play and skated virtually unopposed while throwing its collective weight around, constantly punishing the Knights with bone-rattling checks and frustrating them as well.

So it’s reset time for Bruce Cassidy and his team. They’ve got to get the train back on the track and raise their collective energy level if there is going to be a return trip to Alberta come Friday.

It’s unlikely Mark Stone, who was in the lineup for game 4 after leaving in the first period of Game 3 with an upper-body injury, and/or McNabb and Pietrangelo sits Wednesday. Hill is not leaving the net for Akira Schmid. So it’s up to the 18 skaters who take the ice to show up and deliver.

It means getting more out of Eichel. Same for Tomas Hertl. Pavel Dorofeyev is back and he needs to become a factor offensively. And the defense collectively must play better,. That means not pinching as often along the wall and risk getting countered by Edmonton’s superior speed. It means winning the 50-50 puck battles and not coughing it up in your end.

And it means playing with your emotions under control and not taking needless penalties. Evander Kane is notorious for getting under his opponents’ skin and that’s not going to change. He’s going to go hard to the net, try and rattle Hill’s cage and create havoc in front.

The Knights know all this. Either they find a way to slow the Oilers down, take the game to them physically or find a way to generate more offense or we’re going to see handshakes in T-Mobile Arena Wednesday night.

It’s that simple.