Putting on the Foil

 GDT – Edmonton Oilers 0, Colorado Avalanche 3 – Feb 6, 2010 @ 8:00 PM – CBC – Game 57

GDT - Edmonton Oilers at Colorado Avalanche

PRE-GAME RANT

The Oilers big 2 game winning streak came to a halt versus the Wild on Thursday where they were felled 4-2. They are 2-1-0 so far this month after going a whole month without a win. The Colorado Avalanche have just 1 win in their last 5 games after going on a 6 game winning streak. They’ll look to get things back under control against a fellow struggling team. The Oilers are 2-7-1 in their last 10 and the Avalanche are 6-4-0 in their last 10.

Something tells me this will be another loss for the Oilers tonight. Prediction: CBC commentators will rip into the Oilers for being such a poor team at this that, and the other thing and mention how Dustin Penner looks lazy out there again. The last game these two teams played against each other, the Avalanche won 6-0.

Prediction: 4-1 for Colorado

PROJECTED LINE-UPS

TEAM COMPARISON

	STATS
56	GP	56
18	W	31
32	L	19
6	OT	6
42	P	68
0.375	P%	0.607
2.5	G/G	2.84
3.32	GA/G	2.57
19.3	PP%	17.9
74.9	PK%	82.2
28.6	S/G	26.7
31.8	SA/G	32
46.8	FO%	47.3

GAME NOTES

- Steve Staios and Ladislav Smid are each very close to passing their tests to return to the lineup. Either one of them may be in the lineup tonight.
- According to the Edmonton Sun, in order for Dubnyk to play in Springfield during the Olympic break, he needs to have played more games in the AHL this year. That’s why he was sent back down. To rack up a few more games.
- UPDATE: Exactly the same lineup this game for the Oilers as the last game.
- UPDATE: From Dan Tencer’s Twitter: “Coach Quinn stated yesterday that Brule was out because of a drop off in energy and passion. So, he’s a healthy scratch officially.”

1ST PERIOD SCORING
No scoring.
2ND PERIOD SCORING
-9:34 – Wolski from Duchene, Hannan
Duchene drops it to Wolski who hammers it through Deslauriers. It slowly trickles into the net.
3RD PERIOD SCORING
– 17:06 – Wilson from Foote
After playing spectacular, Deslauriers lets in a softie on a shot from the boards at the top of the circle. May have been tipped.
– 19:30 – Yip (EN) Unassisted
Dustin Penner is too soft on the puck and coughs it up on the break out. Yip gets it and puts it in the open net.

SHOTS ON GOAL
	1st	2nd	3rd	Total
EDM	4	8	8	20
COL	14	15	13	42

1ST PERIOD HIGHLIGHTS

20:00 – During the pre-game ceremony, Mike Ricci was honored (as part of the “Avalanche Alumni Association” in which ex-NHLers important to the Avs are honored – thanks Tashimoko) and dropped the ceremonial puck. Afterwards the Avs paid tributed to Brendan Burke with a moment of silence. Pretty good of them to do that.
16:08 – Cogliano go streaking into the Avs zone and nails the ref. They both hit the ice.
10:42 – Cogliano again tries to break in the zone, this time along the boards past Wilson, but Wilson has something to say about that and rattles him hard against the glass.
9:30 – Nice job by Comrie to lay down and sweep the puck off an Av’s stick while Potulny was off getting a new stick.
7:43 – Nice hard work by Stortini to chase a puck down behind the net as he blows around a defender (yes, I said that about Storts), picks the puck up and then nearly wraps it in. He draws a penalty on the play as well.
6:05 – Ugly powerplay for the Oilers as the Avalanche get a great chance on a point shot.
2:35 – Great series of saves here by Deslauriers on the powerplay with some fantastic saves.
2:19 – This time Deslauriers stones Wolski one on one. This game is scoreless because of Deslauriers so far.
1:02 – Potulny with two great shot blocks on this penalty kill.

2ND PERIOD HIGHLIGHTS

17:45 – Comrie wipes out in front of Deslauriers and almost turns it over, but good recovery to sweep it out of danger.
16:48 – Yip takes a shot from far out that Wolski tips, but Deslauriers sprawls to make a great save to keep it out.
14:22 – Nice save by Anderson on a Moreau wrister through traffic.
10:44 – Duchene gets Deslauriers down and out and rings it off the bar.
9:29 – During the break, Pat Quinn verbally berates everyone on the bench, as the Oilers aren’t in this game at all. The shots are 22-6 so far and they’re leaving Deslauriers to do it all.
4:35 – Comrie and O’Sullivan get a 2-on-1 with Potulny trailing. Comrie dekes in on Anderson and it slides through Andersons legs and out the other side of the blue paint, staying out somehow.
3:37 – Moreau gets in alone on Anderson, but Anderson again shuts the door.
0:19 – Svatos stopped by Deslauriers from in close. Deslauriers is superb so far tonight.

3RD PERIOD HIGHLIGHTS

15:54 – Decent hit by Plante on the big man Stewart after O’Sullivan knocked him off balance a bit.
14:27 – CBC announces that Gagner hurt himself (sore left knee). Looks like it was when he fell into the end boards in the 2nd.
10:07 – Svatos fires a hard wrister from the top of the circle but Deslauriers stops it with the shoulder then covers it up.
7:40 – On the powerplay, Comrie walks right out front from the corner and tries to flip it up high on Anderson, but Anderson denies him. Visnovsky gets the rebound at the point, but his shot is blocked.
7:25 – The Oilers get a 12 second 5-on-3 and call a time out.
5:30 – Cogliano gets a shot from the side of the net. The rebound comes right out front to Horcoff, but Adam Foote goes down to block the shot and Horcoff fans on it, right into Foote’s equipment.
4:18 – Close call. The Avs are pressing again as McLeod just barely fires it wide, blocker side.

POST-GAME SUMMARY

Wow, what an awful game played by almost all of the Oilers. Deslauriers earned the first start tonight, and I mean he earned it. He was shelled by 41 shots and made 39 saves. He let in one very questionable goal (goal number 2), but aside from that, this was a 1-0 game for most of the game 100% because of him. It should have been another 6-0 final. Lots of negatives in this one, so I’ll keep this summary short.

Next game, Monday in Phoenix vs. the Coyotes. It’s a 7:30 start and is televised on Sportsnet.

Draft Watch
#	TEAM	PTS	GP
27		54	58
28		49	58
29		49	59
30		42	57