Oilers eliminated in game 7

Edmonton Oilers vs Vancouver Canucks 2-5 (2-1, 0-3, 0-1)

"However this unfolds, I will be devastated if we don't put up a dogged fight" said GM Kowalski before the game. His head coach, Kevin Constantine, iced an unchanged lineup. The Canucks were suddenly facing a team that marched with a piece of the true cross. Then again, a lot of experts were convinced that Edmonton's push to game 7 was a mere Lazarus-reflex and that the corpse was now cooling.

There was no trace of rigor mortis nor decay of the Oilers, though they needed all the vigor possible to keep out two consecutive Canucks power plays early on. The successful penalty kill then handed the initiative over to the scorers, who dropped it, but fortunately Lee Falardeau was dilligent enough to collect it and wrist home his second of the post-season - giving the Oilers their first opening goal since game 1 of the series. The lead suffered an early death, however, as veteran Colin White was able to find a hole through the screens to score from the point. Ralph Waldo Emerson stated that "Every hero becomes a bore at last." He might be right, but Taylor Chorney certainly delayed his trajectory towards boredom with his third goal of the series a few minutes before the first intermission.

The mortality rate of leads in this game was astonishing and it rose even further when Samuelsson brought his team back into the game within a minute of the opening face off of the period. Edmonton's fate was oscillating between heaven and hell - and Schroeder appeared as a fallen angel at 27:32, forcing the Oilers down Golgotha with their burden again. The first stones were cast, bringing futher misery with them in form of another Canucks goal, this one signed 'Alex Burrows'. The period ran out with the Oilers behind yet again.

Early minors taken by Smid and Yonkman limited Edmonton's time to mount a comeback significantly. The power plays were heroically fended off, however, and Edmonton did manage to create a few chances - igniting some hope yet again - before life support was cruelly severed by Ryan Kesler. The game ebbed out with the Canucks very deservedly taking game 7. The echo of a certain 2006 game 7 resonated in the Oilers fans' minds. Tormenting them. Again.

Post game: "We came this far, had some excellent games, but did not prove we were good enough in the end. Kudos to the Canucks, but we have identified much to build on in this series and will not let it bring us down for long" summarized GM Kowalski. "In the end, we knew we would have a hard time in this series, but there's only so much to it when you are actually in a game 7. You can never be satisfied losing like this, or any other way, because you know how close you are to going through." So the Oilers end their season, defeated.


Scoreboard
1st Period:
EDM - Falardeau (Smid, Gilbert)
VAN - White (Hodgson)
EDM - Chorney (Laich, O'Sullivan)

2nd Period:
VAN - Samuelsson (Fedotenko, Gratton)
VAN - Schroeder (Burrows, Gratton)
VAN - Burrows (Gratton, Bernier)

3rd Period:
VAN - Kesler (D. Sedin, Edler)


Injuries/Misconducts/Etc.
-

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

Babchuk - Visnovsky
Smid - Gilbert
Chorney - Yonkman

Khabibulin
(Hiller)