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Oilers Win Record-Setting Five Consecutive Road Games  5
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The Edmonton Oilers got a five-finger discount tonight at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis after stealing the game in the third period. The story of tonight's game without question is simply the number 'five.' Tonight, the Oilers set a record by winning their fifth consecutive road game in franchise history. They started the third period down three goals with only five defensemen after Sheldon Souray was given a game misconduct for mouthing off the ref after taking a roughing penalty. The Oilers rallied back from a three-goal deficit by scoring five goals in the third period. The St. Louis Police Department have issued arrest warrants against the entire Oilers organization for stealing this game! Last I checked, Dustin Penner who scored a goal and finished the night with four assists is currently ranked 5th in the league in point production. To score the goal that put the game away, Penner beat Conklin five-hole for his 18th goal of the year. Yes my fellow Oilers fans, this road trip started with talk about the dive-for-five and ended with the Oilers completing the drive-for-five. What an effin hockey game! Scottrade Center - aka the crime scene! 
The first period itself was not a good one for the Oilers. It started off with a litany of turn-overs with culprits including the usual suspects of Staios and Strudwick. From there, even Sheldon Souray and big Dustin Penner gave the puck away too. David Backes scored the game opener on a wrap around goal. Jason Strudwick stood in front of the net in awe at the agility of Backes. Apparently, he was so awe-struck that he didn't think to block the wrap-around attempt or even prevent Backes from baning in the juicy rebound that Deslauriers gave him. Yes, the first period was pretty ugly. The Oilers were hemmed in their zone and were unable to generate anything remotely looking like a scoring chance. We were left with nothing but the musings of one Gene Principe to entertain us. His joke of the night was directed at Ty Conklin. Wearing his spiffy suit courtesy Z-Zegna, he pointed at his tie and made reference to Ty Conklin. If there was an actual joke outside of the obvious pun, I honestly have already forgotten the punch-line. 
Jason Strudwick played instead of Dennis Grebeshkov 
Strudwick was the goat on the first goal against. I haven't read the Cult of Hockey yet tonight, but I am sure that David Staples gave him a primary error for the first goal against. Heck, I would give him two primary errors--one for not preventing the wrap-around and another for not stopping David Backes from baning in the rebound. The Blues drew first blood in more ways than one during this game. Patrik Berglund gave Shawn Horcoff a taste of some artificial lumber in the Oilers zone. Berglund went to the box for four minutes which lead to one of the worst four minutes of Oilers power play time that I've seen this season. It was that ugly. 
The Oilers pissed away a four minute power play opportunity, then one-upped themselves by pissing away another two mintues shortly after the first four ended. Without Hemsky, the Oilers power play has looked freaking brutal. Facing the worst-power play team in the league, we made the St. Louis Blues look like the Harlem Globetrotters of Hockey. They wore down the Oilers PK unit with slick, precise passes and TJ Oshie banged a one-timer high past Deslauriers that came from a cross seam pass. David Backes got his second goal of the night on a strange play involving a high-bouncing puck that Deslauriers knocked into his own net when a bunch of players piled on top of him. The Oil were now down 3-0 and Souray got ejected from the game shortly before the period ended. He felt like breaking something and I probably did too. Souray had a bit of a rough game but did try to muscle a puck into the net by walking into the slot-it reminded me of a goal that he scored during the preseason, but I can't remember which game. Penner and even Jacques have a few chances, but the Oilers couldnt get one past Conklin. The Oil drop did pick up some momentum during this period. The line of Moreau/Potulny/Cogliano didn't look very solid tonight and they have a few long stretches hemmed in their zone. Late in the period, Penner fought hard in the Blues zone and made a slick pass to Brule who made no mistake from out in front of the net to bring the score to 3-1 for St. Louis. 
The third period is when the Oilers got the party started. To me as an Oilers fan, Dustin Penner is becoming the next Doug Weight--a guy who can provide true leadership on the ice by carrying a team on his back. Question--if he hadn't stepped up this season would you be able to bear watching Oilers hockey? Yes, Dustin Penner strapped two kids on his back and carried this team to a incredible comeback. It was truly a comeback for the ages to borrow a phrase from the Oilers website. Penner, Brule, and Gagner collaborated on two more goals to tie the game for the Oilers. Shawn Horcoff who almost looked like Shawn Horcoff of old got the game winning goal on a nice pass from Nilsson. He scored despite about three or four hooking/holding infractions prior to the puck finding the back of the net. Scorecoff went an outstanding 20-8 on the faceoff circle helping the Oilers win 60% of the total faceoff draws. To cap off the game, Dustin Penner drove the net and beat Conklin five-hole. I can't remember him scoring a goal like that since earlier in the season. It was his fourth point of the night. In the dying minutes of the game, Penner iced the puck with just the right draw weight, but missed the open-net by about two or three feet. It was one hell of a hockey game. Post-game Video:
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