Oilers encounter Avalanche in Denver

Edmonton Oilers vs Colorado Avalanche 5-7 (2-5, 2-0, 1-2)

The Oilers went with an unchanged lineup, save for the entry of Nikolai Khabibulin in net, in this second of back-to-back games. Colorado held a 13-14-4 record for 10th in the Western Conference. The Oilers had 2 wins and 1 loss against the Avs so far in the season.

Edmonton started well, Brooks Laich was set up nicely by Cogliano to score his 11th of the 2010/11 season. But like an old piece of bread, the Oilers seemed to crumble before stunned home fans, who surely expected more compete out of the visitors. Colorado put up three goals within 7 minutes, and five in 11 minutes, only interrupted by a lone O'Sullivan marker. Edmonton pulled Khabibulin following the fifth goal. Edmonton had a mountain to climb, and there was an Avalanche in the way.

Every journey starts with a single step, and Anton Krysanov took the first one for Edmonton by breaking away and putting his first ever NHL goal by Nabokov. A fire had been lit for the Oilers, and Gilbert fuelled it with another marker with 8 minutes to go in the second period.

The Oilers were still trying to breathe life into their fragile flame when David Koci brought about oxygen deprivation with a fine goal on Hiller, who had done superbly until that point. Gagner sparked another hope a minute after, scoring on the power play. The fans were growing worried that a comeback may yet be completed, but were reassured by Morris' second of the night with a mere minute and a half to go of the game.
A thriller came to end at the score of 7-5 for the home team.

Post game: "It was like seeing a regretting young arsonist desperately try to manage a fire gone wild" said GM Kowalski, on the theme of burning defeat. Vulcan could not have burned the Oilers goalies worse, as they were continually betrayed by their porous defense. Offensively, this game was a gift for hockey fans.



Scoreboard
1st Period:
EDM - Laich (Cogliano, O'Sullivan)
COL - Morris (Berard, Wolski) PP
COL- Kunitz (Duchene, Svatos)
COL - Wolski (Hejduk, Radivojevic)
EDM - O'Sullivan (Hemsky, Visnovsky) PP
COL - Svatos (Kunitz, Duchene)
COL - Svatos (Duchene, Yandle)

2nd Period:
EDM - Krysanov (Axelsson, Yonkman)
EDM - Gilbert (Gagner, Smid)

3rd Period:
COL - Koci (Stastny)
EDM - Gagner (Babchuk, Visnovsky) PP
COL - Morris (Stastny) PP


Injuries/Misconducts/Etc.
-

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

Babchuk - Visnovsky
Smid - Gilbert
Grebeshkov - Yonkman

Khabibulin
(Hiller)