It was another heart-breaking loss for the Edmonton Oilers at Rexall Place. Well, that's unless you're already among the Fall 4 Hall group of Oilers fans. Either way, it's now been ten-consecutive losses for the Oilers. James Neal scored for the Stars with just 22.2 seconds left on the clock in the third period for the game-winning-goal.
The story of tonight's game was the Oilers getting into penalty trouble early with four-consecutive Oilers penalties at the start of the first period contributing in part to an early two-goal deficit. Follow the jump for the game recap.
Who says there's no country for old men?
The Dallas Stars opened the scoring in this game with a goal from Trevor Daley. Daley's goal was a consequence of a giveaway from Tom Gilbert. It appeared that Gilbert made a quick pass up the ice to avoid a check. Robert Nilsson was out of position and the puck landed on the tape of a Dallas Stars player. Devan Dubnyk who was tested early and often looked solid to start the game but was unable to stop this shot.
Just over two minutes into the game, Jason Strudwick got in a tilt with Chris Burch. Strudwick got the best of Burch early on as the game commentator remarked, "Strudwick has the lawnmower going with his right hand." However, Strudwick took a couple good shots prior to losing his footing and falling to the ice.
There was a parade of Oilers who headed to the penalty box including Horcoff, Pisani, Ganger, and O'Sullivan. Though the Oilers managed to kill three of these which included a 5v3, the O'Sullivan penalty lead to a goal against. Many would argue that the call against O'Sullivan was pretty soft especially since he was interfered with prior to the call.
Mike Modano scored on the O'Sullivan penalty for the Dallas Stars. It appeared that his shot was redirected by the stick of Jason Strudwick.
The Oilers partially answered back in this period with their own power play goal from Ryan Potulny. Penner created some space with a slick pass to Robert Nilsson who set up Potulny. Potulny managed to bang in his own rebound for the goal.
For this game, the Oilers used a shutdown line of Moreau, Horcoff, and Pisani to try and contain the Stars top-line of Neil, Richards, and Eriksson. At times oddly, the shut-down line was paired with Jason Strudwick and Taylor Chorney. To his credit, Chorney did manage to cover at one point when Strudwick was turned into a pylon by Mike Modano.
During the second period, Dallas scored again with a goal from James Benn. Taylor Chorney was caught pinching in the offensive zone when the puck was clearly headed the other direction. It left Jason Strudwick with a 2v1 in the other direction. Strudwick was unable to block the pass from Ott to prevent the back door goal.
Sam Ganger scored his first of two goals on the night with just 19 seconds left to play in the second period. Dustin Penner and Tom Gilbert combined with the assists on the play.
Brad Richards took a high stick from Ethan Moreau to the eye which went uncalled during the game. Richards did return to finish the game. The Oilers tied the game with Sam Gagner's second goal of the game with the extra attacker and just a minute and two seconds left on the clock. The puck was kicked in by none other than Mike Modano.
However, James Neal scored an unassisted goal for the game-winner with just 22.2 seconds left in regulation. Dennis Grebeshkov turned the puck over while trying to clear the zone which lead to the goal against. As well, Jason Strudwick fell while trying to clear a rebound in front of the net and softly put it on Neal's stick instead,
Once again the Oilers clutch defeat from the jaws of victory.
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Bloguin is the revolutionary blog network specifically focused on helping bloggers get the most out of their websites. We're currently working on building a large network of online communities and hope to expand our blogging coverage to include a wide range of topics.
The Bloguin Network allows advertisers to promote their products and services to our ever-growing number of visitors. We offer both site-specific ad placements as well as the ability to run a network-wide campaign. If you're interested in working with Bloguin to meet your advertising needs, please contact us.
The Bloguin Network is always looking to expand. We're specifically looking for blogs in the sports, entertainment, and video games field, but are open to adding any type of quality site. If you're a blogger and interested in joining our network, please fill out our application form.
The Bloguin Login gives you full access to everything our network has to offer. Your name and password will work for each and every one of our sites. Signing up is simple, and will allow you to post in all our forums, create member blogs, and access other cool features! What are you waiting for? Create an Account!