wingoilerfan

November 25, 2003
AT COLUMBUS

Oilers 3, Blue Jackets 3

This game did not get off to a good start for the Oilers, as sloppy defense and bad penalty killing would haunt us. Manny Malhotra scored on a 3-on-1 and blasted the puck past Oiler goalie Ty Conklin no more than two minutes and a half after the game began to give the Jackets an early lead. Near the end of the period, Rick Nash sent the puck to Geoff Sanderson, who banked it off of Conklin for the power-play marker. The Oilers have gotten into too much penalty trouble this period, and the Jackets wasted no time on capitalizing on the power play. It's been said that the worst times to give up a goal are near the beginning of a period or near the end of the period. The Oilers gave up both kinds of goals in the first period, and were also outshot 12-8 in the first period.

The Oilers' sloppy defensive coverage continued in the second period. Conklin made a great save to bail us out early in the second period after a Jackets scoring chance in which a Jacket was allowed to skate in alone in the Oilers' zone. More often than not, when an opposing player is allowed free access to the Oilers' zone, bad things happen. We were lucky this time ... and then some. Ales Hemsky scored on a rebound from Brad Isbister through traffic to get the Oilers on the board at 3:13 of the second period, after Isbister fired the puck in from a slanted angle. However, the Jackets came back later in the period on a goal by Trevor Letowski. He ended up crashing into Conklin after Mike York chopped him down, but the puck went into the net before Letowski went down. Once again, the Oilers took an ill-advised penalty shortly before the goal to give the Jackets a power play. Although the Oilers outshot the Jackets 13-12 in the second period, we remained trailing this game by two goals when the period was over.

In the third period, the Oilers got even with the Jackets. At 5:33 of the period, Isbister shot the puck over Jacket goalie Marc Denis' shoulder to narrow the Jacket lead. It's unlikely Denis even saw it ... it went in and out of the net in a second's time. Conklin then robbed Rostislav Klesla's shot soon after Isbister's goal. Minutes later, the Jackets had a flurry of chances in front of an empty Oiler net, but David Vyborny sent the puck wide of the net. After the Oilers weathered that Jackets' storm, Radek Dvorak tied the game at 3 goals apiece after he defelcted Raffi Torres' shot behind Denis. At the end of the third period, not only was the score even, but so were the shots on goal, at 9 apiece.

In overtime, both sides had some good chances, with the Oilers having the better scoring chances later while the Jackets had their chance early in overtime. The Oilers have not lost in overtime yet this season, and outshot the Jackets 4-1 in this overtime.

When all was said and done, the Oilers were able to overcome two 2-goal deficits, as well as some sloppy defense, to tie this game. Taking into consideration how this game began, I'm glad we tied. Every little point helps in the standings.

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"If you're going to lose, lose with enthusiasm." -- former Edmonton Oilers coach Ron Low

Let's go Red Wings!
Long live the Oilers!

Canadian26

Im impressed that the Oilers where able to come back, however that scares ne a bit also. They have the offenseive capabilty to come back from a defecit, but they wont always be able to do so... like if they encounter a hot goalie. Edmonton's d-zone coverage has to be better, they where very sloppy out there tonight... disciplin looked to lacking, I cant wait for Oates to join this team and add an extra element to their game.

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"You see things and you say "Why?"; but I dream things that never were and I say "Why not?""- George Bernard Shaw

"Education is the power to think clearly, the power to act well in the world's work, and the power to appreciate life." - Brigham Young

slapshot™

I missed the game (worked late) but caught most of the 3rd. and the O.T. on internet radio. It sounded like if it wasn't for Marc Denis the Oilers could've won this one.

wingoilerfan

Hey folks ...

Denis was very good in last night's game. In OT alone, we had some good chances on him ...

However, there were also times where I thought the Oilers were lucky to get the tie ... the defense wasn't too good at some points in the game. One example is that 3-on-1 rush that resulted in a goal.

The Oilers cannot afford to do that against the Wings, who are likely to be going into this one angry after that debacle against the Caps ...

__________________
"If you're going to lose, lose with enthusiasm." -- former Edmonton Oilers coach Ron Low

Let's go Red Wings!
Long live the Oilers!

slapshot™

Who were the suspect D-men that missed their assignments? Lemme guess....Smith and Brewer?

wingoilerfan

Brewer was one of them, for sure ...

I didn't hear too much about Smith while listening to the broadcast (but then again, I was also drinking rum and Coke while listening to it ... I call that drink "Edmonton Oil" in honor of the Oilers k: ). Brewer, on the other hand, was mentioned quite a bit during the broadcast ... often with disdain for his effort in last night's game ...

__________________
"If you're going to lose, lose with enthusiasm." -- former Edmonton Oilers coach Ron Low

Let's go Red Wings!
Long live the Oilers!