Oilers bludgeon Jackets with horn of plenty

Columbus Blue Jackets vs Edmonton Oilers 6-7 SO (3-5, 2-0, 1-1, 0-0, 0-1 SO)

Edmonton had yet another sizeable win against the Wild to gain confidence from and the Blue Jackets were in similarly dire straits as the Wild, sitting at 13th in the West with 30-34-6. The Oilers made no lineupchanges save for allowing Jonas Hiller the start, resting number one goalie Khabibulin.

The viritual Stalin's organ of offense opened fire at 3:24 of the first period and bombarded the goaltenders on either side right up until the end of the period. The Oilers' power play was coasting early, being granted far too much ice to be considered healthy for the away team. Gilbert Brule finally got on the scoreboard again after being set up nicely by Penner in front of the net. He returned the favour on another man advantage four minutes after. Following Brule's second of the night, and seventh of the year, the teams lit the lamp five more times, finishing the period on a 5-3 note!

Columbus had evidently applied a torniquet to their bleeding and looked more composed in the second. Edmonton kept making risky rushes, hoping to increase the gap and blow the game away. Their tactic, and hopes, took a dent when Umberger closed the gap to one five minutes into the second. Fans were growing nervous and restless as the Blue Jackets gained more and more possession, increased their shots and when Brassard equalised just before the second intermission people in the stands were outright jaded with their team. Having allowed 5 goals in just 20 shots, Jonas Hiller was pulled in favour of Khabibulin during the break.

Edmonton would strike back quite quickly in the final frame, however, and Penner added his 27th on the season by deflecting Visnovsky's point shot by Craig Anderson. Khabibulin's presence did much to settle the Oilers into a more effective playing style, but Olli Jokinen could nonetheless put the visitors on equal terms to bring overtime to Rexall Place.

The teams looked fatigued in the overtime, save for a few attempts to carry the puck to the net, neither team mustered any noteworthy chances. Just before full time, Anton Babchuk took a skate to the hand and left the game. The shootout that ensued, brought two points to Edmonton who first missed, then netted three straight to overcome Anderson and the Blue Jackets.

Post game: "Idealism is what precedes experience; cynicism is what follows" noted GM Kowalski, quoting David Wolf. "We have experience, but that was pure idealism out there. It was a complete disregard for defensive duty and the fans loved it, if not just for the result in the end. " Gilbert Brule's 4 points qualified as a career high. The technical switch of the top two lines introduced the first game in a while in which both lines contributed significantly.

Scoreboard
1st Period:
EDM - Brule (Penner, Laich) PP
EDM - Penner (Brule, Laich) PP
EDM - Brule (Tangradi, Laich)
CBJ - Jokinen (Nash, Tyutin)
CBJ - Vermette (Callahan, Martinek) PP
EDM - Tangradi (Hemsky, Gagner) PP
CBJ - Nash (Jokinen, Voracek)
EDM - Falardeau (Babchuk, O'Marra)

2nd Period:
CBJ - Umberger (Callahan, Salei)
CBJ - Brassard (Paré, Martinek)

3rd Period:
EDM - Penner (Visnovsky, Brule) PP
CBJ - Jokinen (Voracek, Nash)


Injuries/Misconducts/Etc.
INJ - Anton Babchuk (OT) Cut hand, day-to-day

Lines:
Tangradi - Laich - O'Sullivan
Penner - Gagner - Hemsky
Axelsson - Cogliano - Moore
Moreau - Falardeau - O'Marra

Babchuk - Visnovsky
Smid - Gilbert
Grebeshkov - Petry

Hiller
(Khabibulin)