When the Edmonton Oilers are cleaning out their lockers at the end of the season, in all likelihood analyzing why they didn't miss the playoffs, they will no doubt look at their lack of success against the teams they were directly competing with for playoff positioning as a reason that they have to book early tee times.

Lineup
Smyth	York	Hemsky	Brewer	Cross
Torres	Oates	Dvorak	Smith	Staios
Moreau	Horcoff	Isbister	Ferguson	Semenov
Chimera	Stoll	Laraque
			Conklin
			Salo
Scratched: Reasoner (IR, knee); Pisani (day-to-day, shoulder); Ferguson (healthy).

Postgame

Heading into last night, in games against Calgary, Nashville, Phoenix, and Los Angeles, four teams the Oilers need to catch in order to make the 2004 Stanley Cup Playoff tournament, the Oilers sported a record of 1-7-1 in 9 games against those Western Conference rivals. Furthermore, the one win, against Calgary on November 15th, was an OT win which gave the Flames a point despite the loss.

The last two Saturdays in particular have seen the Oilers give up four points to a Nashville Predator team that they should be able to beat. Last night's game was crucial to the Oilers playoff hopes: win, and the hope of getting back to .500 by the All Star break was still alive, and they would only be six points out of eighth place in the conference. Lose, and the Oilers would be 10 points out, likely too much to overcome in the remaining 29 games.

In a playoff type game, the Oilers delivered a playoff type performance, with intensity, determination, hitting, timely scoring……and a poor performance from Tommy Salo.

From the outset, the Oilers looked to establish a physical edge over the injury-riddled Kings, and were hitting everything in sight. Dominating possession-wise, the Oilers directed 13 shots at the Los Angeles net, but Roman Cechmanek was to the task, stopping all 13, and getting some help from his defense on a Ryan Smyth chance that came to rest in the crease area. Despite getting only six shots on net, the Kings took a 1-0 lead to the dressing room, as a communication breakdown in the Oiler zone left Brad Chartrand all alone in front of the Edmonton net, and the LA centerman beat Tommy Salo as he went down to try and make the body-stop with only 7 seconds left in the first period. As has been the case on a few occasions this season, late period goals have caused the Oilers grief, and would do so more than once on this night.

The 2nd period was much of the same, as the Oilers outshot the Kings 13-6 once again, but could manage no better than to match the Kings production. 2:34 into the period, Trent Klatt caught Tommy Salo cheating off the post and wedged in the 2nd goal of the night for the visitors, a tally that is best described as suspect. Later in the period, with the Kings' Jaroslav Modry serving back-to-back hooking penalties, created by the hard work of Ethan Moreau and Jarrett Stoll, Brad Isbister tallied his 9th of the year on a nifty deflection of a Cory Cross point shot of a rolling puck. The goal was verified by video review, and the Oilers went to the 2nd intermission down by one goal, just as in the first. The most memorable moment of the game to thus point was a scary one, as Kings defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky was taken off the ice on a stretcher after a bone jarring, but clean, hit from Ethan Moreau sent the King blueliner into the sideboards in an awkward fashion.

The third period was the highest of the highs and lowest of the lows from the Oilers perspective. Only 3:19 in, Georges Laraque, playing arguably his best performance of the season, beat Cechmanek five-hole to tie the hockey game, and proceeded to hit the corner boards at full speed, in his signature fashion, for the first time since the third period of last year's playoff series against Dallas. Less than 2 minutes later, Fernando Pisani took a feed from Shawn Horcoff and went top corner to give the Oilers their first lead of the game. The Oiler fore-check and down-low play was leading to success and dominance on this night, and the home team looked on their way to a big win.

However, it was not to be. Inexplicably, the Oilers fell into a defensive shell in the final minutes (as has been said before, Craig Mactavish is defense first….to a fault even), and the Kings began to get some pressure established, leading to several icing calls against the Oilers. With less than 2 minutes left, and the LA net vacant fairly early, Ryan Smyth made an attempt from his own side of center at goal, and missed the net by less than 2 feet. Off the ensuing face-off, Joe Corvo ripped a one-timer point shot past a down-early (again) Salo, and the game suddenly looked headed for overtime. For an Oiler team that looked like the far better squad for most of the night, only having the opportunity to pick up one point on the Kings was demoralizing. But the nightmare was just beginning. With less than 10 seconds to go, a Kings 3 on 2 rush resulted in a juicy rebound to Morinville product Jason Holland, and he potted his fourth career goal with only 5.5 seconds left to break the hearts of the Oiler faithful, and likely put the final nail in the coffin of the Oiler playoff hopes. There are 29 games left, but realistically, 10 points to make up and several teams to catch and pass, with two centers injured and the goaltending inconsistent at best, there is little hope in Oilerville, and we're not even at the All Star break yet.

Three Stars

Roman Cechmanek: when you're outshot 36-17 and win, your goalie must be on his game. The former Flyer was tonight.

Trent Klatt: a goal and a determined effort from the former Canuck, a player who has risen to the occasion in the wake of King players getting injured en masse.

Georges Laraque: his best performance of the season, by far. Let's see if he follows it up.

UNSUNG HERO: Jarret Stoll: this kid is playing like a seasoned veteran. Solid defensively, wins faceoffs, and is starting to get involved on the offense more. The line of Torres-Stoll-Dvorak seems to be forming some chemistry.

Quick Hits

- Brad Isbister left the game in the third period after a spill into the end boards, somewhat reminiscent of Ryan Smyth's injury two seasons ago. However, the injury is being called a mild ankle sprain, and Isbister is listed as day to day.

- A good performance from the Edmonton defense tonight, with a lapse on the first King goal the only real blemish. Igor Ulanov continues to contribute since his return, as he lead all Oiler defenders with 24:17, with Eric Brewer a close 2nd with 24:15, both at minus one; with Jason Smith, the distribution of minutes on defense looks to be much more even than with Scott Ferguson or Marc-Andre Bergeron in the lineup.

- Shawn Horcoff and Ryan Smyth lead the Oilers at forward, both with over 21 minutes. Despite the grief taken for the icing call that indirectly set-up the tying goal, Smyth was one of only three Oilers on the plus side of zero, as he, Georges Laraque, and Mike Bishai all were plus one, with Bishai getting his first NHL point, an assist on Laraque's third period marker.

- Jason Smith had a spirited dust-up in the 2nd period, as he got a double minor for roughing Derek Armstrong. Armstrong in turn got penalized for interference, as he was getting in the way of Jason Smith's fists in the melee. Not long after, moments after the Ethan Moreau hit on Visnovsky, Ian Laperriere took a stand for his injured teammate and went toe-to-toe with the Oiler assistant captain.

- On the face-off dot, Stoll and Adam Oates lead the Oiler charge at 60% success rates each, with Shawn Horcoff taking 29 draws and winning 13 of them. The Oilers, as a team, have certainly improved in this regard since Oates' arrival, despite Marty Reasoner's absence. The powerplay effect of Oates has still yet to be seen, and this individual believes the non-production of Oates on the man advantage, despite his rank among the all-time greats in this regard, is not so much an indictment against Oates as it is against the system that the two Craigs (Simpson and MacTavish) have designed.

- Ales Hemsky did not see any special teams time or third period ice, and only played 6:49. He may be struggling, but all young players do, and a solution other than less ice might be to put him with linemates where he's had success before. Ryan Smyth, one of those linemates, is also struggling…..what would the Oilers have to lose by putting these two together with perhaps Marty Reasoner, upon his return? Or try the preseason combo of Isbister-Smyth-Hemsky until the Marty Party starts up. Once again, is there anything stopping them from trying such a move right now?

- Jani Rita once again sat out, but one has to wonder if Hemsky's recent struggles might give the 1999 first round pick a chance to get into the lineup in an offensive role.

- Fernando Pisani scored for the 2nd straight game, and looks to be improving every night. I still don't understand the Dan Cleary comparisons that come up occasionally. Pisani is contributing to this team in a positive way through defensive play; the offense is a bonus. Cleary was just a bum who should be better than he is.

Editorial Commentary

The question of the night seemed to be, after the game, whom the finger of blame should be pointed at. The popular choice of the Edmonton media would be to lay the loss at the foot of Ryan Smyth, whose admittedly selfish play lead to the tying goal. However, should he be the one wearing the goat horns for what happened tonight? No. Smyth was on the plus side of zero and saved a near-certain goal at the end of the 2nd period. Also, Smyth wasn't the only guy taking icing calls late. The Oilers went into an ultra-conservative defensive shell, likely at the wish of the head coach, and it proved to be their undoing. Cory Cross missed the net with a shot that lead to the winning offensive rush up the ice for the Kings. And lest we forget that Tommy Salo did not make a big save all night, allowed 4 goals on 17 shots, and looked very weak on the 2nd and game winning goals. The Oilers came to play tonight, and deserved a better fate. No doubt a veteran like Smyth deserves some criticism for the way things turned out. However, to bear the brunt of the onslaught of ink this morning is unfair and untrue. Not one word about Tommy Salo, futher adding fuel to the fire of the idea that the Edmonton media coddles the man who once cried in an arbitration hearing. Roast Smyth if you must, but why not roast Salo, and the coaching staff as well, the two entities that have been the biggest contributors to the success, or lack thereof, that the Edmonton Oilers have had this year. They have seemingly escaped so far….Eric Brewer, Ryan Smyth, Adam Oates, Georges Laraque, they've all felt a bit of the heat time to time, and rightly so. However, the two critical positions that can make the difference between a playoff team (i.e. Calgary) and a 12th place team (i.e. Edmonton) have been the key to the predicament that the Oilers are currently in, and should rightly bear the brunt of criticism.

Next Game

The loss to the Kings leaves the Oilers 10 points out of the playoffs, and likely was the dagger to the heart that killed any hope that Edmonton had of making the playoffs this year. At the beginning of the last 10 game stretch, I personally looked at the opponents the Oilers faced and thought they had a legitimate chance to go 7-3 and climb right back in the playoff race. Instead, they went 4-5-1, were inconsistent, lost to the Nashville Predators twice in games they didn't look prepared for, and topped it all off with what was, without a doubt, the most heartbreaking and frustrating outcome of the season. I have not been this upset about the team I love since the 1992-93 season, and it will be very interesting to see how the players, coach, and management react to the fact that they are likely as close to done as you can be. I would not be surprised to see activity over the All Star break with regards to trades involving the Oilers, but I hope that Kevin Lowe does not act with haste in such moves. But that's another article altogether. Tomorrow night, the Oilers get back at it against the other Southern California team, Sergei Fedorov and the Anaheim Mighty Ducks. Puck drop is at 7pm MST, SportsNet West on TV, CHED on the airwaves. Two games left until the All Star break, and the Oilers are in a position where every game is seemingly must win. I consider myself among the most optimistic of Oiler fans, but as Kenny Rodgers once sung, "You got to know when to hold 'em, and know when to fold 'em." The Oilers haven't just lost all their chips, they're at the door being handed their coat at this point. For a team with so much promise, to see it all go sour due to a lack of competent coaching and solid goaltending is frustrating indeed.