Isbister, Hemsky Lead Oilers Back to 3-3 tie in Columbus.

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

Postgame

Sometimes he's Brad Invisbister as you can look at the boxscore and see that he actually suited up but you'll be damned if you can actually remember him playing. Other times he's Brad Invisibuster when you think about all the hype and the one and a half very good seasons he had on the Island. Also see his salary.

But on Tuesday night he was Brad Wishbister and the kind of player you envision when you see his size and strenght put to good use. The former Jet, Coyote, Duck and Islander had a goal and an assist as he lead a third period charge in Columbus helping the Oilers to a 3-3 tie

Who didn't expect a Heritage Classic Hangover to envelop the boys from Northern Alberta? So much hype and jazz and prompt and prestige last week and now it was back to Game 21 on the season sked and facing a Blue Jackets team that doesn't bring out the best in anyone.

But the secret that isn't so hard to uncover if you look at the standings shows Columbus as actually a very good home team and they jumped out early and often to the Oilers and put the boots to the Copper and Blue.

Speaking of boots, Scott Ferguson lugged his cement shoes into the offensive zone on an early pinch and the BJ's roared back on a three-on-one with Bergeron being Ty "Custer" Conklin's only ally. Newly minted Blue Jacket Manny Malholtra placed a deft shot over Ty's left shoulder and it was 1-0

Columbus made it 2-0 late in the second just eight seconds into a Jarrett Stoll infraction. Cassels won the draw and slipped it to a wide open Geoff Sanderson who sifted it through Conklin to make it 2-0. Ty should've had all the angles covered and speaking of all the angles covered, have you ever thought of how Sanderson and Cassels are the anti-Selanne and Kariya? They enjoy playing together and Cassels came to Columbus with that in mind, I'm sure. But they've been less successful over their careers than the current Colorado duo and they don't nearly cry on camera or in print when the other guy gets hurt.

I dunno, I just had to get that off my chest.

Speaking of things that just aren't right, how about the Oilers penalty killing? After another Blue Jackets man advantaged marker late in the second period Edmonton dropped to 25th on the road in PK efficency and, get ready for it, dead last in the league overall

Huzzah!!!

But we'll get to that goal later.

Ales Hemsky would finally got the Oilers on the board 10:27 into the second when Isbister drove hard off his offwing which is really his correct wing, ie he's a right handed shot who plays on the port side, and the rebound careened past the BJ's defender and to a hard charging Hemsky. The second year pro swiped it past Marc Denis and the Oilers were in business

Of course any Oilers game isn't complete without the all encompassing panic that occurs when they take a penalty. The Oilers have now been shorthanded a disturbing 103 times. That's the eight highest total in the league. So take a team with poor discipline and combine that with bad coaching and what do you get? Well for starters it's me eating more Rolaids than Dom Deluise after a three day cookout at Rosie O'Donnel's summer home. But more importantly you get goal after goal with the camera panning MacTavish to get that same lobotomized look.

At least this time it nearly took the BJ's a full minute to make the drool fall over old #14's chin but Trevor Letowski didn't disappoint as his third crease whack at the disc floated over Conklin and it was 3-1 Columbus after 40 minutes

Folks, do you like your Edmonton Oilers road powerplay? After the conclusion of last night's game the Oilers had scored two, that's right two, powerplay goals in 10 games which featured 45 chances. Quickly name the scorers and locales and I'll provide the awnser at the bottom of the postgame. On the other hand they've given up three road shorthanded goals. I can think of two and those would be Matt Cooke and Peter Schaffer. Post the other one on the Oilfans messageboard if you wish

In any case I gave you all the back story because the Oilers had a 5-on-3 situation early in the third when trailing by two goals. And they amassed two shots.

But Isbister was seemingly undaunted and at 5:33 of the final frame he again found himself on his offwing which really isn't his offwing and he stepped into a slapshot that blew past a startled Denis.

He then threw a crushing check off the next faceoff and the Oilers thusly swarmed the Blue Jackets. The Bad Apples line, all rejects of NY based teams, finally clicked for the tying goal with a little under seven minutes left off a sweet passing play. York carried the puck through the neutral ice and headmanned it to a roaring Torres. Raffi swooped down the left wing and threw it through the crease where Radek Dvorak, formerly and most likely soon to once again be DZholtok, tapped it in from the right side.

The Oilers inexplicably killed off a late penalty to Mike York and when #16 escaped from the box he had the best chance to end it in regulation. He found himself somewhat alone and in tight on Denis. But he's a right handed shot and was on the left wing so as he attempted the wraparound he needed just that exact second to stuff it on his backhand. He fumbled the puck on the transfer and it wound up safely in Denis's pads.

Here's the info that you seek: Radek Dvorak and Raffi Torres are the miracle workers who've scored on the road PP for the Oilers. Torres scored in Montreal and Dovrak scored at his old home rink in MSG.

Three Stars

Brad Isbister - A goal and an assist in 15:24. He made it 3-2 on an absolute laser and drove to the net all night.

Ales Hemsky - A goal, an assist and a whopping four shots on goal in 17:37. He finished +2

Marc Denis - 31 saves and didn't buckle when the Oilers tied the game and swarmed the Blue Jackets.

Oil Gauge

17:36 of icetime and an assist along with a +2 rating for rookie centreman Jarrett Stoll. He was also 12/23 from the faceoff circle and took virtually all of the Oilers own zone draws late in the third period. Shawn Horcoff has a respite now with Reasoner's injury but once #19 returns it will be interesting to see who rides the pine. Stoll has four goals and six points in his first nine games and has been everything advertised as far as a solid all around game....Eric Brewer clocked exactly 25:00 and stifled his usual nemisis, Rick Nash. Brewer made the occasional trip to the offensive zone but more and more seems to be honing his defensive game.......Ryan Smyth played 21:20, had five shots on goal and was 17/29 from the dot. He has amazingly gone 52/77 from the faceoff dot in his last three games. That's 67.5. Quite remarkable for a converted centre.

News & Notes

Another useless night for Georges Laraque. Once again the injury of Reasoner and the inexperience of Sarno and Salmelanien gives him the benefit of a doubt but even once Oates draws in the Oilers have to make some tough decisions on what is currently a huge waste of money and icetime.....Another game and another glaring mistake by Scott Ferguson. Last Tuesday it was throwing the puck away up the middle which lead to the first Hawks goal. On Thursday it was getting lost in space and letting Darcy Tucker walk to the slot to tip home the Leafs opening goal. During the Heritage Classic good 'ole #32 let Perrault walk out from behind the net and finally last night Ferguson made an ill advised pinch which lead to a BJ's three-on-one and subsequently the game's first goal. Meanwhile, Alexei Semenov threw his popcorn in the air and did a google search on Paris Hilton.....The latest Comrie news has the diminutive centre headed to Anaheim for the current OHL scoring leader, Corey Perry, and a second round pick. Yes, you read that right.

Next Game

Tonight in Detriot as the Oilers get their first exposure on one of TSN's Games Of The Week when they visit the Red Wings. These aren't your slightly older brother's Detriot Red Wings. They used Federov's money to sign Hatcher but Derian could be out until April. Plus, their netminding is sometimes shoddy with Hasek re-nursing his old Buffalo groin injury and Joseph struggling to regain any kind of form. Gametime is 5:30 MST.