Special teams an absolute joke as Oilers fall short in Boston, 4-3.

Lineup
Smyth	Sarno	Hemsky	Brewer	Cross
Torres	York	Dvorak	Smith	Staios
Moreau	Stoll	Pisani	Semenov	Ferguson
Chimera	Horcoff	Salmelainen
			Conklin
			Valiquette
Scratched: Laraque (hand), Reasoner (knee & ankle), Isbister (flu) and Salo (groin) out with injuries. Bergeron was a healthy scratch.

Postgame

One of these days someone just might take a look at the Oilers hiring practices. It won't happen tomorrow and it probably won't happen after the season either. But when you look at how the Oilers special teams consistently suck and who's in charge of them, maybe just maybe a change could do the Oilers good.

Because in their current form there's certainly nothing for the Oilers to Crow about.

Sorry about that one.

The Edmonton Oilers enjoyed the privilege of five powerplay oppurtunites with one of them being of the four on three variety. They predictably didn't score.

The Boston Bruins only had four powerplays to work on but they managed to dent the twice three time on these occasions. Oh sure the Oilers scored a shorthanded goal to bring the deficit down to 4-3 but the bottom line says three special teams goals against and one for is a theme which is quickly turning the Oilers season into a goals against horror show.

15-11 in favour of the home side proclaimed the shot clock after the first 20 minutes of play. It was a frame that saw Conklin busier than Kevin Lowe on "Hire People Based On Their Geography Or Former Playing Career" Day.

He made at least three big saves to keep the score respectable but the goose egg was broken when Patrice Bergeron continued his fine rookie season by scoring on a Bruin's powerplay. This marked the 13th time in 15 games that the opposition had scored a powerplay goal. And the other two games featured the Oilers allowing a shorthanded marker so the special teams have been an unmitigated success for the Oilers thus far.

Granted it's for the opposition but that's just being picky, isn't it?

Jarrett Stoll drew the Oilers even early in the third when he deftly tipped a Jason Smith point shot past a started Andrew Raycroft just 51 scants seconds into the frame.

Both Tony Salmalainen and Ethan Moreau had chances to give the Oilers a lead but the former made an ill advised and inexperience tinged backhand spinarama pass when he enjoyed a clear shot on the B's goal. The latter is afterall Ethan Moreau so when he swept a rebound clear of an open cage it was par for the course.

Also see Radek Dvorak for missing scoring chances and inspiring false expectations but just not in this game.

But then the Oilers took their second penalty of the night and the Bruins not so coincidentally scored their second powerplay goal of the evening. Did I mention that Martin Lapointe's goal happened while Hemsky and Smyth were the penalty killing tandem? Did I mention that pairing makes little sense?

3-1 screamed the clock when the Oilers took their third penalty of the evening and Mike York and Ethan Moreau shot out of the zone when it looked like the puck had a chance to be cleared by Eric Brewer. But with the point all but abandoned, Joe Thornton calmly collected the erstwhile disc and ripped a slapper past a Mike Knuble screened Conklin.

Did I mention the Oilers play a penalty killing system where they are more concerned about breakouts than clearouts and it's a system that's contributed to a 61/81 killing "efficency"?

Finally the B's would score their fourth goal of the season when Steve Staios decided Conklin's mask looked like a nice fit for his can. So the former Thrasher took a seat there as a screened and most likely sexually uncomfortable Conklin heard the roar of the crowd when the puck slipped by him.

Raffi Torres made it 4-2 early in the third on a shortside stinker off the left wing and Shawn Horcoff made it 4-3 off a shorthanded tally but that would be all the scoring for the Oilers. Conklin continued to get peppered and he would hold the fort long enough for two glorious tying chances for York but the former Ranger couldn't further solve Raycroft and the Oilers once again slipped under the .500 mark.

But don't you dare blame the special teams or who was coaching them!!

Three Stars

Martin Lapointe - A goal and an assist in just 12.29 of icetime for the five million dollar man. Shoutout for my beer truck driving homey Rejean Houle.

Brian Rolston - An assist, six shots and 9/14 from the faceoff circle from the Michigan native.

Raffi Torres - 17:45 logged produced this team leading 7th goal and five shots on net for the surprising leading marksman for the Oilers.

Oil Gauge

Steve Staios logged a team leading 24:06 including a very scary 4:29 whilst the Oilers went 0/5 on their powerplay oppurtunities........Jarrett Stoll scored his second goal in two games and he had three shots on goal and finished +1 in 11:49 of ice. But he was just 4/17 from the faceoff circle and that has to improve...Mike York finished with 21:43 of icetime and that was the most clocked by any forward. He had an assist and five shots on net

PP: 0/5
PK: 1/4

OilSlicks

There were some developments on the injury front and the news isn't good on Marty Reasoner. He has a fractured ankle and is out indefintely. He's the Oilers best faceoff man and they will miss him immensely. Meanwhile the MRI results came back on Tommy Salo and he's just listed as day to day with nothing more than a bruise. I know, I'm disappointed too....Upon the completion of this game the Oilers have now allowed 20 PP goals which is tops or bottom in the league. On the other end they've scored just 10 PP goals themselves. They've scored 46 goals and allowed 50, by the way.....Only the Joe Thornton goal was questionable from Conklin's end so that's a step up from the usual Oilers netminding fare.

Next Game

Thursday in Minnesota as the Oilers finish off a current 2-2-1 roadtrip with a game against the Wild. The Oilers have never lost in regulation vs the Wild so they have that to hang onto. I don't believe any Canadian outlet is broadcasting the game but I'm pretty sure it will be available on Centre Ice.