Oilers battle Blue Jackets in Ohio

Edmonton Oilers vs Columbus Blue Jackets 2-4 (1-2, 1-1, 0-1)

Captain Ethan Moreau returned to the lineup for the Oilers, forcing the reversal of the changes made when he was out - Smid went back on defense, while Matt Lashoff was a healthy scratch. Jonas Hiller got the start in net, relieving veteran Nikolai Khabibulin. The Oilers were on a 3 game winning streak, while the Blue Jackets had lost 4 in a row and were 6-9-0 in 11th place.

Mark Twain said "History may not repeat, but it sure does rhyme". The first 10 of the first period did not, however, rhyme, nor echo, nor even remotely resemble each team's past games. The Jackets came out with fury, unleashing 10 shots in the first 5 minutes, and 14 in the first 10. Both Mike Commodore and RJ Umberger notched goals for the home team during that span, while Edmonton clung desperately to a straw that seemed to have an ember at the end of it. A fresh breath, with sufficient power, extinguished that glow, when Brule managed to, quite unfairly, send Edmonton back in the picture late in the period.

The Blue Jackets kept up their relentless pressure in the second and Hiller was forced to work for both his and the team's salaries throughout the period. Only Umberger managed to convert that advantage in shots, possession and chances to the scoreboard, however, and as in the first, Edmonton managed to hang on late in the period. O'Sullivan took a perfect shot in the slot to keep Columbus guessing what it would take to shake the Oilers off their backs.

The puzzle seemed to solve itself in the third, the Oilers ran out of steam and could not keep Huselius and the Jackets power play from getting an early 2 goal lead, from which the visitors never recuperated.

Post game: "We looked tired out there, could not take the game to them in any way" said head coach Kevin Constantine after the loss. Average performances from most players left the team incapable of getting back from the initial blows dealt to them by an envigorated Blue Jacket outfit, thus the winning streak stopped at 3 yet again.



Scoreboard
1st Period:
CBJ - Commodore (Jokinen)
CBJ Umberger (Filatov, Brassard)
EDM - Brule (Cogliano, Laich)

2nd Period:
CBJ - Umberger (Huselius, Nash)
EDM - O'Sullivan (-)

3rd Period:
CBJ - Huselius (Tyutin, Strålman) PP


Injuries/Misconducts/Etc.
-

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

Babchuk - Visnovsky
Smid - Gilbert
Grebeshkov - Yonkman

Hiller
(Khabibulin)