3 L’s in a Row Dash Playoff Hopes

Etai Handman

Same Old Same Old

52 seconds into the hockey game Jonathan Cheechoo scores and sets the tone for this one.

The Sharks came out smelling blood, because the Oilers are on the verge of missing the playoffs for the 6^th time in 8 years under Mac T.

About 6 minutes after Cheechoo’s goal Hemsky coughed the puck up giving the Sharks a golden opportunity as Roenick busted in alone but Roloson robbed him with a big glove save keeping the Oilers in this one.

Kotalik rang a shot off the post with about 7 minutes left in the first frame but after 20 minutes the Oilers were down by one and were out-shot 8-6.

Climbing back

The Oilers looked better to start this period but still it seemed like San Jose took the play to them. 8 minutes in Dan Boyle scored what eventually stood up to be the game winner on the power play.

The 2 goal lead was deflating for the Oilers yet late in the period they started to fight back and eventually got a power play.

Nilsson made a beauty back hand pass to a trailing Gagner who beat Nabokov high scoring his 15^th of the season and giving the Oilers a chance to come back in the 3^rd. The Oilers out shot the Sharks 11-9 and it was tied 17-17 through 40 minutes.

Too little too late

The Oilers came out flying in the 3^rd they had a lot of chances but were stoned on numerous chances by Nabokov. 6 minutes in Kotalik again rang one off the post as he couldn’t buy a goal in this one.

The Oilers played one of their better periods and continued to apply pressure even with 2 power play chances late but couldn’t tie it up.

They clamped down defensively and out shot the Sharks 9-5 and 26-22 over all. As always it was too little too late the Oilers came to play a single period and that just won’t cut it against the top team in the West.

Where’s the Urgency?

With their playoff hopes on the line pretty much tonight the Oilers didn’t look like a team that cared too much. They had little urgency in their game and a team with their play off hopes on the line and wants to make it must play with urgency.

The lack of motivation is becoming too much of a consistent problem. That could be a sign that the coach has lost the room and the players just don’t want to play for him.

Impact

Both Anaheim and St Louis won tonight pushing themselves even further ahead of the Oilers.

With the loss the Oilers don’t have much hope of making the playoffs but never say never. It aint over till she’s over.

Oilverse Player of the Game

Nilsson is the Oilverse player of the game he played a smart hockey game. He was fast and make laser guided passes all night. He generated many chances and is a sparkle of hope for the future along with Gagner and Cogliano.

Next game Sat night when Van comes to town 8 PM MTN puck drop

Game #78 Preview

Michael Sciarpelletti

vs.

Best of the West

Do the Anaheim Ducks and Phoenix Coyotes just bum you out? Did you get thumped by Buffalo, Chicago, and Detroit? Is your home record just atrocious and are your playoff hopes slipping through your fingers like a fistful of sand?

Well too bad, because instead of the road getting easier it instead gets tougher. That begins tonight at 7:30 PM in the bane of the Oilers’ existence, the building that they call home.

The rallying cries of Edmonton players begging fans to give them a playoff atmosphere were met to the fullest extent Tuesday but the primary component required to be victorious was not present; that being the team itself.

And as ineptitude breeds ineptitude MacTavish led this motley crew to their brutish fate at the hands of the Ducks who just popped their game into cruise control against the Oilers in the third period and simply awaited the win. This is something the Oilers often do when in the lead, save for the fact that they often fail where Anaheim succeeded

So the story goes for this edition of the Oilers which has taken a pounding in the media after failing to succeed on Tuesday.

Dan Barnes of the Edmonton Journal, who sometimes takes it easy on the Copper and Blue, pulled absolutely no punches on Wednesday saying that the Oilers needed to “Change the culture, attitude, philosophy, range of roster demographics, the top six, bottom six, size, grit, leadership, coaching, special teams approach, or systems play.”

Though it was April Fool’s Day, you knew he wasn’t fooling; this team has some serious issues and playoff berth or not they most certainly will have to address their shortcomings with a drastic sweep of a hand although reluctance to do so is apparent within the organization.

But this struggling club knows that their summer plans are not yet set in stone and that they can begin an attempt (no matter how difficult it may seem) to get back into the playoffs by beating the club they will most likely face if they make the post-season in San Jose.

The Western Conference leaders have had nothing but the President’s Trophy and pride to keep them motivated since they long ago guaranteed their post-season entrance and yet have still found ways to win without any big pressure placed upon their shoulders.

That is a very, very stark contrast to an Oilers team that seems to have everything to play for but no desire to do so on any given night and as such will most likely have to win their last five games in a row to secure a playoff spot.

Even that might not save this struggling team, as their consecutive victories need to be coupled with the losses for other teams who will likely face a much less fierce version of the best and worst the NHL has to offer as teams either rest their best players for the post-season or evaluate their rookies.

Recipe for Disaster

The worst part of this situation for the team has to be that even if they put together one of their best stretches of hockey in winning their last five games straight they still make no guarantees about their fate.

With Dwayne Roloson seemingly out of gas and the coaching staff reluctant to entrust Jeff Desauliers between the pipes it seems as though the squad is doomed to fail, a sentiment agreed upon in hockey circles everywhere.

Roloson’s impending 34^th straight start comes just two days after an agonizing loss that saw a few floaters go past the 38-year-old goaltender. Despite this he will be called on again and again by a team who seems comfortable with doing the equivalent of banging their collective heads against the wall.

Captain Ethan Moreau has been chastised repeatedly for comments made after the game against Anaheim in which he seemed to place blame on a complacent offense despite a lacklustre performance from his penalty killing unit. How does this young Oilers team respond to wrongful blame from their veteran leader?

This after an apparently unsuccessful player’s only meeting before the Ducks which may indicate issues not only with coaching staff but also with the locker room itself.

The culmination of all these woes may result in yet another loss in Rexall which will most likely mark the end of the depressingly mild 2008-2009 season that harkens back to the dark Oiler days of the 90s. Those days introduced Edmonton to hockey so terrible that it became often embarrassing for the self-proclaimed City of Champions.

Add that to a recession, a long winter, and what in all likelihood will be yet another Northwest pennant year for the despised Calgary Flames and its surprising Joe Oilersfan hasn’t had a nervous breakdown yet.

Keys to the Game

As depressing as it is to reiterate night in and night out our intention is to analyse Oilers weaknesses and in spite of the likelihood that the Copper and Blue will merely curl up into a little ball and die we shall instead dissect these weaknesses in hopes of improvement, a word that must seem alien to those loyal to the Oil.

This perpetual ritual leads me to such points as the Oilers needing to shoot the puck more which is a statistically proven way to increase the chances of a goal. In a recent study conducted by the Institute of No Duh researchers discovered that teams who put the puck on net more often than their opposition had a better chance of putting the puck in the net more than their opposition which in the sport of hockey translates to victory.

Dwayne Roloson, who is tired and old, will have to pretend he is young and full of vigour against a San Jose team that shows no mercy and would likely enjoy a chance to embarrass the goalie who eliminated them from the playoffs in 2006.

For an ailing defence one would often prescribe a dominate offense but since this team seems to lack either at the moment physicality will factor in to this game quite prominently. San Jose doesn’t scare easy, but wearing down a much more skilled unit is the only apparent alternative to disaster unless San Jose takes a rare night off or the Oilers somehow reach a previously unheard of pinnacle of skill.

This writer must disclaim that any allusions to the setup between the Sharks and Oilers series of 2006 and this lopsided tilt are unintentional and laughable if that context is what the reader takes away from such statements.

But do not discount the fact that the NHL has seen stranger things happen and that Craig MacTavish knows his job is on the line and will be pushing for these late-season heroics, however unimaginable.

Injuries and Notes

Dwayne Roloson will start in his 34^th straight game.

Ladislav Smid will continue to miss the rest of this stretch drive and it is projected the young blue-liner would miss at least the first round of the playoffs if the Oil were to qualify after a plate was inserted into his hand to help the healing process for two bones in his hand which were broken. This is too bad as Smid’s family had come up to watch their kid play and will not be afforded the chance.

Lubomir Visnovsky continues to be sorely missed on the blue-line.

Who’s Not Hot

Everybody in a blue jersey.

Oilverse Prediction

Stranger things have happened if the Oilers can manage a victory which would likely come to the tune of 4-3 if such a feat were to occur.

But the visitors have momentum among other things to aid them in what could be a blowout.

The puck drops at Rexall Place at 7:30 PM MNT on Sportsnet West in what could be the final meaningful game of the season for the Oil.

Enjoy the game!