Oilers expel Blue Jackets

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

Fourth line stalwart Lee Falardeau suffered a lower leg contusion in practice before this game and Anton Krysanov drew in to replace him. Despite his failure against Chicago, Nik Khabibulin was given the start. The Blue Jackets were facing practical elimination from the playoff race, sitting 13th with 33-36-7, six points out with six games to go.

The Oilers wasted no time taking advantage of the fragile Blue Jackets confidence as Anton Babchuk scored his first in several months. Ales Hemsky added his 27th of the year before power forward Rick Nash managed to halt the onslaught with a strong drive to the net following Jonas Junland's stunning break out saucer pass. While it spurred a period of Blue Jacket offense and got the fans into the game, it never looked to threat the Oilers. Andrew Cogliano sniped in a fine shot to make it 3-1 before the teams headed to the locker rooms.

The loyal Blue Jacket supporters averted their eyes in agony as Sam Gagner was allowed to get three attempts at a rebound before scoring, having outbattled the tall but lacklustre pairing of Tyutin/Junland. Edmonton's merciless hunt for more goals culminated in yet another somewhat embarrassing situation for the home team - Craig Anderson's mismanagement of the puck let Cogliano, Smid and Hemsky quickly turn possession into goal from a nice passing play.

Seemingly more due to the Oilers feeling quite satisfied with their game than any increased effort by Columbus, the scoring pressure relented in the third.

Post game: Sam Gagner, Ales Hemsky and Dustin Penner all played tremendously and contributed heavily to the win that secured Edmonton their first playoff place since their infamous cup run in 2006.


Scoreboard
1st Period:
EDM - Babchuk (Gagner) PP
EDM - Hemsky (Penner, Gagner)
CBJ - Nash (Junland, Jokinen)
EDM - Cogliano (G. Moore, O'Sullivan)

2nd Period:
EDM - Gagner (Penner, Hemsky)
EDM - Hemsky (Cogliano, Smid)

3rd Period:
-


Injuries/Misconducts/Etc.
-

Lines:
Tangradi - Laich - Brule
Penner - Gagner - Hemsky
O'Sullivan - Cogliano - Moore
Moreau - Krysanov - O'Marra

Babchuk - Visnovsky
Smid - Gilbert
Grebeshkov - Petry

Khabibulin
(Hiller)