In the first month of the season, the Oilers faced adversity on multiple fronts, on and off the ice. First, goaltender Grant Fuhr underwent an emergency appendectomy in training camp that would keep him sidelined for several weeks. Backup goaltender Bill Ranford would start the season in his place. Next, forward Jimmy Carson, the team's leading goal scorer from the previous year, abruptly left the team after the 4th game of the season and demanded a trade. Among his reasons, Carson found the pressure of replacing Wayne Gretzky, the player he was traded for, impossible to play under. In addition, Carson, who grew up in Michigan with an affluent family, did not enjoy life in the city of Edmonton, which was nearing the end of a crushing recession. Finally, the Oilers granted Carson's wish and dealt him to his hometown Detroit Red Wings. In return, The Oilers received forwards Petr Klima, Joe Murphy, and Adam Graves, and defenceman Jeff Sharples from Detroit. Finally, in the Oilers' fifth game of the season, at home against the Los Angeles Kings, Wayne Gretzky broke the all time NHL points record held by Gordie Howe; watching Gretzky celebrate the milestone was tough on his former Oilers' teammates, who felt they should have been the ones celebrating with him. These incidents, combined with weak defensive play and penalty killing, combined to put the Oilers on a slide early in the season, and they reached the quarter-mark of the season with a 6-9-5 record, which sat them in last place in the Smythe Division. To make matters worse, Fuhr, who returned from his appendectomy, injured his shoulder and was sidelined again. The one bright spot on the team was forward Mark Messier, who sat 2nd in the NHL in points at the 20 game mark and would battle all season with Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Steve Yzerman for the Art Ross Trophy.