Edmonton meet St. Louis at Rexall Place

St. Louis Blues vs Edmonton Oilers 3-5 (1-2, 0-1, 2-2)

While the Oilers held a strong 12-7-0 record, the Blues were struggling at 13th place standing at 6-10-2 before this game. Edmonton went with an unchanged lineup from last game where they beat the Blue Jackets by 4 to 0.

Edmonton's initial dominance in possession and shots was cruelly rewarded only with a goal against, courtesy of Brad Boyes. The Blues' disciplinary problems surfaced, as they frequently have this season, enabling the Oilers to get back into the game, though they did not seize the opportunity until a minute was left of the period. At that point, however, they served themselves thoroughly by notching up two markers on separate power plays.

The play evened out more in the second, the Blues threw their weight around without incurring as many penalties as in the first. That did not deter Gilbert Brule from taking on the entire Blues, however, as he dangled his way by the entire team before beating Chris Mason for a highlight of the season! The home fans were contemplating paying extra for that one!

The Blues were not buried yet, though, and Brad Boyes scored his second of the game when 12 minutes remained to give the away team a real chance of tying the game up in the third. It was a chance that TJ Oshie took, mere 2 minutes thereafter, beating Khabibulin from close range. Edmonton recovered quickly, resurrecting their lead on the power play. They kept pressure up during the final minutes too, adding another goal to their total, which was Dustin Penner's first since his return to the lineup.

Post game: Ales Hemsky's brilliant 4 point night was only eclipsed by the stunning solo-effort Gilbert Brule put up for the 3-1 goal. "We were good on the rush and on the man advantage tonight" added head coach Constantine following the game, "particularly Hemsky and O'Sullivan, they've been leaders of the most important sense lately". The win put Edmonton in 5th place, gave both Hemsky and O'Sullivan their 20th points of the year and improved the Oilers record to 13-7-0.


Scoreboard
1st Period:
STL - Boyes (Perron, Berglund)
EDM - Hemsky (O'Sullivan, Visnovsky) PP
EDM - O'Sullivan (Visnovsky, Hemsky) PP

2nd Period:
EDM - Brule (Axelsson, Babchuk)

3rd Period:
STL - Boyes (Perron, Backes)
STL - Oshie (Johnson)
EDM - Hemsky (O'Sullivan, Visnovsky) PP
EDM - Penner (Gagner, Hemsky)


Injuries/Misconducts/Etc.
-

Lines:
Penner - Gagner - Hemsky
Cogliano - Laich - O'Sullivan
Axelsson - Stone - Moore
Moreau - Falardeau - Brule

Babchuk - Visnovsky
Smid - Gilbert
Grebeshkov - Yonkman

Khabibulin
(Hiller)