Avalanche Win.

At times it is better late than never, though in sports there is always a loser.  


With a late goal in the third the Oilers found themselves tied heading into overtime yet the club couldn't bury the Avalanche in the shootout; as Colorado skated to a 3-2 victory at Rexall.

"I was happy with the third period," Oilers coach Tom Renney said. "I thought we were stuck in mud a little bit in the first two periods. We turned the puck over far too much and had a hard time getting some traction. But we stuck with it and were able to crank it up and take control in the third."

Kurtis Foster and company are making every effort to put up some wins.  Despite the loss last night, the Oilers tried desperately to drag their injury depleted club out of the dank, basement suite.  Clearly, losing a hard fought match during a shootout hurts more than a kick in the pants, especially after their last ditch effort.

“All the guys stepped up in the third, it shows a lot to come back in the third period and tie it up,” said Foster. “We’re all professionals and we all want to win. That’s what we’re here for.

“In the first two periods the coaches and players weren’t too happy, we didn’t get the push we wanted, but in the third we did a good job of getting it deep and banging some bodies.” added Foster.

The third period belonged to the Oilers as they peppered goaltender Brain Elliott with 15 shots to their 5.  Elliott, who has been arguably the worst NHL goaltender in the NHL in recent weeks, made some timely stops to give his team a chance to win. 

"We played good down there (in Colorado) and got a couple of goals on Elliot, but he played good tongiht,” said forward Magnus Paajarvi.

“We had seven out of eight points against these guys, so obviously you look to win this game,” said Paajarvi. “We know we’ve played good against them and can take points from them. We really wanted this win.”

Foster had the lone goal in the third to send the teams into OT.  After four rounds of shootouts, Ryan Stoa undressed Khabibulin with a backhander to snap their 6 game losing skid.

The Oilers will take the point, though the squad remains dead last with 56 points and 6 back behind the Avs.  Still, it is somewhat obvious that the Oilers will continue to fight for the remaining 10 games, lead by their coach.

"I think that is a noble objective and should still be," he said. "It's important that they stay with 

that. The point swing can be real deadly right now when we play these guys. It's a four-point night and they are 29th. We'll see them again. Maybe it will come down to that last game of the season and it will be one hell of a game."

*Breaking News.  Defenceman Ryan Whitney found skating with the club.  More to follow.