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 They were not, only 25 percent of the lineup had been changed,
but it was more than enough in an 8-2 upset of the visiting Colorado
Avalanche.
Edmonton rolled out to a 3-0 first period lead and then kept the
Avalanche on the ropes for the rest of the evening to win at home
for just the fourth time this season and improve its overall record
to 10-18-2.
With two AHL defensemen pushed into action, and another young
blue-liner fresh off injured reserve, nobody in Edmonton saw this
coming.
"I haven't been in this league long, but I've been in it enough to
know that anything can happen on any night against any team," said
left winger Taylor Hall, who scored Edmonton's first, second and
eighth goals.
"You have to be ready for the opportunity. You just have to come out
and play your game. Sometimes you're going to get eight and some
nights you're going to get zero. And tonight was a great night."
Colorado, after winning its previous five, dropped to 19-7-0.
"I'm not disappointed at all," said Avalanche coach Patrick Roy.
"They played well and scored power-play goals, they scored on the
rush. We knew before the game that it's a team that it would be very
dangerous to exchange chances with. If they go on the rush, it's
their game and you played into it. We need to learn from it."
The Oilers were still stinging after a 6-2 home-ice loss to the
Phoenix Coyotes, an embarrassing defeat that resulted in the
demotion of three players and a seat in the press box for two more,
and were hoping to get the jump on a Colorado team that hadn't
played a game in five games.
They did, scoring at 3:44 when Hall had a breakaway from center ice.
The goal seemed especially important at the time, given that the
Avalanche came into the contest a tidy 17-0-0 when scoring first.
"It gave us confidence," said Hall. "We're a team, you've seen it,
that when we're not confident and we're not playing with poise, we
don't look like the same team. And all of a sudden we get a goal and
it just seems like we're skating better and we have that burst of
energy.
"The best teams in the league, they don't need that spark, but at
times we do."
Colorado had a chance to get that one right back when they were
presented with a lengthy 5-on-3 power play, but Edmonton came
through with a clutch kill before turning their attention back to
offence.
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Hall's second of the night on an Edmonton power
play made it 2-0 at 17:42 and before the crowd even had a chance
to digest the announcement, winger Ales Hemsky jumped on a
Colorado turnover to make it 3-0 at 17:57.
Edmonton, despite being outshot 10-8, had a 3-0 lead at the
first intermission.
But the Avalanche weren't about to let this one go without a
fight and played their way back into things in a hurry. They
closed it to 3-1 when a long shot from defenseman Nick Holden
banked in off an Oilers stick, than another Oilers skate, and
behind goaltender Devan Dubnyk at 4:20.
They cut it to 3-2 when right winger P.A. Parenteau beat two
Edmonton defensemen to a rebound at 9:28.
It looked like the Oilers were in the midst of a classic
collapse, but left winger David Perron settled things down when
he put a shot inside the left post to make it 4-2 Oilers at
12:06.
Center Mark Arcobello, right winger Jordan Eberle and center Sam
Gagner added third-period goals while Hall completed the
hat-trick in the dying seconds.
"What happened in the last five minutes, we have to look at each
other and play for our goaltender there," said Avalanche center
Paul Stastny. "Those last two goals are on us. We can't quit on
our goaltender like that. He has been our best player all year.
Hanging him out to dry like that is unacceptable."
After losing 6-2, the Oilers win 8-2 two days later. Go figure.
"It's something we spoke about a week or two ago, trying not to
lose two in a row and we've done a good job of that so far,"
said Perron, who scored his fourth goal in the last four games.
"The nice thing would be to get on a roll here and win two or
three."
NOTES: Edmonton G Ilya Bryzgalov was placed in injured reserve
due to concussion/whiplash symptoms after being bowled over last
Sunday in Dallas. ... The Oilers demoted D Denis Grebeshkov, D
Anton Belov and C Will Acton after their 6-2 loss to Phoenix on
Tuesday and recalled D Corey Potter, D Martin Marincin and C
Anton Lander. ... The Oilers also made D Jeff Petry a healthy
scratch for the first time this season. ... The four-day break
in the schedule allowed the Avalanche to rest up some nagging
injuries, but D Ryan Wilson (back) and LW Alex Tanguay (knee)
still aren't ready. ... Colorado's 38 points after 25 games is
the second-best start in franchise history (they had 39 in
2000-01). ... Avalance D Jan Hejda left the game in the first
period after losing an edge and sliding into the end boards.
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